#5SmartReads - January 11, 2021

Hitha on the COVID vaccine’s impact on periods, racism, and the lost girls

January 11, 2022

A gentle reminder that you can join the conversation of the day’s reads by clicking the title above and add your thoughts in the comments! My goal for #5SmartReads has always been to start conversations and share our thoughts and perspectives. I hope to see you there!

Was your cycle affected after your COVID vaccine? I did 🙋🏾‍♀️

While I submitted my data to a study conducted by the University of Illinois, another study evaluated the data collected by the Natural Cycles app and included both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals and monitored 3-4 cycles per subject.

The key observation from this study is that the subjects who received both doses of the vaccine in the same menstrual cycle observed the most cycle changes, if they did observe any changes at all.

In my experience, I had about 3 cycles during and immediately after my vaccination that were longer (7-9 days from 4), but observed no change in the two cycles after my booster.

I hope more clinical trials make impact on menstrual cycle an observable endpoint by design, given that half the population on average menstruates. Until the early aughts, menstruation was a reason for people to be declined from most clinical studies (yes, really).

What happens when a basketball player/spelling bee champion meets an author/activist/gubernatorial candidate?

Inspiration. Joy. And a fire lit under my butt.

Stacey Abrams has been incredibly busy over the past few years - helping flip Georgia and elect two Democratic senators in the 2020 presidential election, publishing a number of books (her thriller While Justice Sleeps was excellent, and her picture book Stacey’s Extraordinary Words was just released two weeks ago).

I’ll leave you with a quote from Abrams that I’m committing to memory.

“I will actually correct myself. I did accomplish something. I may not have gotten the job [governor of Georgia] that I applied for, but I think the campaign that I ran and the way I carried myself, that to me is a hallmark of who I want to be. Someone who not only tries, but when I didn't succeed I didn't let that make me stop.”

The Lost Girls of Covid (Bloomberg Businessweek)

trigger warning - sexual assault, abuse

Jill Filipovic’s words in this piece have stuck with me in the days since I’ve read it.

On one hand, it makes me immensely grateful for my 0.1% problems of juggling Zoom school with work (with a partner, outside help, a safe home and plenty of food and healthcare and a buttload of privilege).

On the other hand, it infuriates me that girls and women are getting screwed again and again and again, and even more so with this pandemic.

What’s at stake, if we don’t act quickly and decisively?

“Very simply, we know that adolescence is a critical moment in life for girls: It’s when many health problems either emerge or are averted, and many social ones, too,” says Lauren Rumble, a principal adviser for gender equality at Unicef. This, she says, is the time to get it right, because “if we get it wrong, we know they are going to live poorer, shorter lives.”

Let’s enable technology transfer of more vaccines for local manufacturing (patent waivers are only the first step), invest more money into the local organizations doing the work of keeping girls and women safe, healthy, and educated. And repeat - over and over again.

Kakenya’s Dream is one of those organizations. Please join me in supporting them (I started a $25 recurring donation - whatever you can give will be a huge help).

It’s really nice for Jeopardy! to be trending with some positive news - like Amy Schneider being the first woman to win $1M in the show’s histories.

Seems like her middle school superlative (“most likely to be a Jeopardy! contestant") became a reality.

She’s also the first transgender contestant to earn this achievement, and speaks openly and eloquently about what the impact of transgender-restricting bills (like ones passed by her home state of Ohio’s legislature) would be for her and other trans Ohioans.

“I grew up in a Republican household and a Catholic environment, and many people I love are conservative in various ways. I know them, and I know they’re not intentionally out there doing harm and that they have reasons for the positions that they hold. So I want to engage people from (across) the spectrum where that’s possible. But it has to be in a condition where my right to exist is granted, otherwise we can’t talk.”

A master class in Jeopardy! and in communication. Amy - I’m cheering you on (and about to dive into your Downton Abbey podcast)

In the outrage of critical race theory being taught in K-12 schools (fact check - it’s not taught), one really important perspective is missing.

And that’s the perspective of the children who experience it.

My early experiences pale in comparison to the author of this piece, but it clarifies a very important point.

The right age to teach children about racism is the time children first experience it.

My kids’ experiences are vastly different than mine was, as are the times. But without talking about race (and accountability when kids engage in racist actions), things will only get worse.

So let’s talk about it - and learn from it.

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