Pharmaceutical Companies on Social Media

 Check out my story on scienceline.org about drug companies using social media to advertise... illegally.

Birth Control Makes You Less Attractive...

I picked up Psychology Today and read the article The Double Life of Women, with this description: "The invisible turns of the reproductive cycle shape the everyday behavior of women and men. A woman's cycle influences not just her preference in a partner, but her personality as well."

Particularly interested in hormones, I thought the article looked promising. I wanted to hear more about the science of the complex interrelationship between mood and hormones. It's one that's been blown out of proportion in popular culture (this SNL commercial for a once a year period is hilarious though).

The gist of the piece is that, in contrast to historical thinking, women actually do exhibit signs of what menstrual stage they're in - subtle indications to the male population. Also, depending on that stage, women prefer different types of men. When she's ovulating - a more masculine man that implies "healthy" DNA. After ovulation - a less masculine man who will be more likely to help care for the child. Alright.

I was not happy with the introduction of the piece:

Step into any bar or party and it won't take you long to spot her. She's the woman with the ringing laugh, the daring clothes, the magnetic appeal that has drawn a circle of admirers around her. If the room were a solar system, she would be the sun—and at the outer reaches, you notice, are several other women seated quietly in her shadow.

But let's skip to the part that left me gaping - really saying "Are you kidding me?!"

The lead up is that birth control puts women in a false state of pregnancy, inhibiting her body from releasing another egg. However, since a woman is "more attractive" when she's in estrus, being on birth control puts her at a disadvantage in the game of love. (Can you see where this is going...?)

Here's the culprit of my cringe:
By the same token, says Gallup, if you're in a line of work in which your income depends on snap evaluations by others—a waitress, say, or a lap dancer—taking birth control pills "is like shooting yourself in the foot," since you miss out on the bountiful tips garnered by women in estrus. (bold mine)

She cites studies that show that ovulating women make more in these professions than those who aren't, but here's the message this particular excerpt, and the whole piece in general, seems to make: Taking birth control will make you less attractive and less rich! 

I'm still struggling with how to respond. But inserting such a quote, which does more than suggest a woman shouldn't take birth control is a bad choice on the part of the writer.

Vitamin Pills: Not the Redundancy It Sounds

As part of my science news column in The Free George (which I am no longer doing, but hope someone else continues it!), I wrote about a new birth control pill that contains the supplement folate. Please find it reproduced here, with helpful links.

The Pill: Now With Even More Protection

The human neural tube, the future brain and spinal cord, closes 27 days after conception. This means that an embryo just three to four millimeters long already sports the defining characteristics of a vertebrate, perhaps even before the mother knows she is pregnant.

Improper closing of the tube can result in spina bifida or anencephaly. Overall, neural tube defects occur in a surprising 1 in 500 live births. However, 50 percent of them could be prevented, researchers say. The answer lies in folic acid.

Recently, Bayer HealthCare has won approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its new oral contraceptive Beyaz, which combines the estrogen and progestin of its popular Yaz contraceptive with a folate supplement.  The new pill is designed to protect a fetus from neural tube defects in case of an unplanned pregnancy – either because of a contraception failure or because some women become pregnant soon after they stop using contraceptives without taking prenatal vitamins. 

An article in Time Magazine’s Healthland points out a certain irony that this pill provides for pregnancy while aiming to prevent it. But the critical role of folic acid in early human development warrants the precaution. Not to mention that it helps an adult body as well in building new cells. So if you’re not eating enough leafy greens, citrus fruits, or pastas, the addition may be helpful beyond a future embryo’s needs. While the folate supplement seems worthwhile, is it the beginning of a trend? Will oral contraceptives become “horse pills” – all-in-one “just in case” vitamins?

  
NEW: I told a friend about it later, and she made an insightful comment that I wanted to share: does adding folate to the pill subtly affect a woman's choice in keeping an unplanned pregnancy? Is it meant to? One of the many reasons that women choose to end pregnancies is because the embryo and/or growing fetus may have been damaged due to the behaviors of the mother when she didn't know she was pregnant. Like drinking or smoking. Or not taking the prenatal supplements that safeguard against certain developmental abnormalities. Can those on the pro-life side now use these new birth control pills to their advantage? Taking away the "excuse" that the child may have been adversely affected in the womb?

Warped Rhinestones Up Here

These are the songs I'm obsessing over right now:

New Frig and Tornado

Photo: Lucas Jackson/Reuters

My refrigerator is getting replaced this weekend! The news came after I had given up any hope of living without an appliance that makes the sound of a mosquito (a giant mosquito that is).

Also, yesterday there was a tornado (the tornado label not verified by weather officials yet) in my neighborhood. And, well, I was oblivious. I got back to my apartment from class about 35 seconds before the rain started falling (~5:30pm). There had been thunder and lightening for a while. So, naturally, I just expected a thunderstorm. Then, about 4 minutes later came the sound of things being violently thrown at my back window. I investigated. Just branches most likely. The storm only lasted for 10-15 minutes in my area of Brooklyn.

Later that evening, I heard a chainsaw going. My first thought was: that's creepy. Just not a sound you would be expecting in a city. After it had been going for awhile, it finally dawned on me that they were probably cutting up some fallen branches. No biggy.

My Apartment in Brooklyn

 I’ve lived in my apartment for thirteen days. I still haven’t mastered the three-knob combination in my bathtub to halt water flow. And I’m still unsure of how to prepare a meal when your only surfaces are the bottom of the sink and the top of the stove. Still, I am now positive of the most important thing to have in an apartment: sanity. What threatens mine? My refrigerator.

Within minutes of plugging it in, I turned to my mom, who was helping me move, and said, “I hope that ringing sound stops. It’s annoying.” She replied, “You’ll get used to it.”

I’m not talking about the rumblings of a working appliance. This frequency is similar to that of an older television, except this ‘TV’ is the size of a refrigerator and can’t be turned off. If only it was annoying. If only I could get used to it.

PLEASE INCLUDE A COPY OF YOUR RÉSUMÉ (IV)

 INTERESTS:  And you would probably look forward to “writing” your résumé if it was a compilation of things you liked in life:

• A list of your favorite books and those you want to make time for
• A collage of your top ten Facebook pictures
• A folder of your elementary school artwork
• A leaf of a tree from your backyard or a shell you found at the beach

Unfortunately, although résumés act as a means of self-validation, they’re not written for ourselves. Concerned about how others will perceive you and caught up with the wants of your prospective employer or society, obsessing over what font to use while you should be out continuing to write on that slate, can make you contemplate adding annoyed to your traits.

The bitterness of defining yourself for another person who may not see your worth is captured by the definition of résumé on urbandictionary.com, a website on which users post definitions of common words and then others rate them: “It’s a document with which the employer cleans his a** after you leave it with him, generally after an interview. Example sentence: Leave your résumé on the desk; I’ll take a look at it.” Yes, a résumé makes you vulnerable. 

REFERENCES:  But once you’ve finished it, it’s physical proof you’ve accomplished your objective: your experiences have embedded you into the world. Even though getting the position you want isn’t about blood or money (for the sake of this ideological argument), it certainly does depend on social capital. When you can reference where you’ve worked, who you’ve worked for, and what you’ve achieved, it means you’re a part of a network of people.

The résumé is one of your references itself. Although it will never define you, or encompass who you are, your résumé gives a reader a glimpse into the journey of your life. You decided you wanted to become a butcher and you did it. Or now you want to be a high school English teacher and here’s why the last four years working as a cashier make you qualified. 

Do you need a piece of paper to confirm your value as a human being? Absolutely not. However, who knows who will read your résumé and what they’ll read between the lines of your experience as a law office intern or a retirement home waiter?  

Darlene Wilson, the production manager of the Glens Falls, New York branch of Genpak, a national foodservice packaging company, says that she “feel[s] there’s always more to the person than what the résumé says.” One of the most important things she looks for in a résumé when hiring is balance, and although education is certainly a considering factor, “degree(s) don’t always equal common sense or the skill needed for the job.” If you want to get an interview, she suggests putting in a statement that you are willing to learn and do what it takes to get the job done, indicating that you’re a motivated person. And, honestly, if any of the fears of not getting recognized or anxieties of putting yourself out there manifest themselves as you sit down to write your résumé, you have to be motivated, and courageous, to continue. 

Look forward: to the job you may get, to the career you may have, to the person you may be. Look forward to spilling your accomplishments onto a CV as your résumé grows beyond one page. Look forward to the day that you see a résumé doesn’t show who you are, but you couldn’t care less because you’re out living.

If all else fails, and your identity crisis won’t go away, remember, we’re all mad here. No one knows who they are; we’re just at different skill levels of faking it. So include that copy of your résumé in hopes of adding another bullet, and then go read the next book on your list, or go outside to smell the lilacs, or go to your kitchen and practice pouring milk.

PLEASE INCLUDE A COPY OF YOUR RÉSUMÉ (III)

ACTIVITIES:  It’s not surprising that résumé writing leads down a path bordered by anxiety, self doubt, and frustration. There’s a lot of pressure as you seek to garner the respect of others on whom your self-conception relies. When students come into the Career Center at Boston College, many times Ann Flynn, who helps with résumés and personal statements, looks at an arrival and thinks to herself, “Maybe you’re not here just for a résumé critique.” 

Used to seeing students’ moods change from lighthearted musings about résumé formatting tweaks to grave brooding about future choices, Ann believes a miniature life-crisis hits because we haven’t been preparing ourselves. All of a sudden, a blank résumé with your name at the top sits before you and wham, reality is right there too. Reality that beyond having a degree, beyond having relevant job experience, and beyond having a solid character, you are also supposed to participate in ambiguously labeled “activities.” Pondering what to write essentially becomes a type of therapy session. You get to appreciate the things you’ve done, at the same time you realize you can still do more.

In fact, Ann thinks employers and graduate schools may even use the résumé to weed those people out who aren’t ready to talk about themselves, a sign of immaturity. But mature or not, twenty-two and looking for a first career job, or forty-two and contemplating a change, this phenomenon of a résumé identity crisis will happen several times throughout your life. Ann’s advice is to “realize that this is just a piece of your life… right now, you’re in this part of the cycle that will, indeed, cycle.” So, it’s something everyone goes through and you just have to get over it.

According to the satire newspaper, The Onion, 91% of ‘calm downs’ are ineffective, so taking a deep breath or channeling your energies to a higher place may not work, although that doesn’t mean ignoring arising life questions will either. As Atisha, one of the prominent Buddist teachers of the tenth century, said, “The greatest precept is continual awareness.” If not continually, at some point you do need to address the life you’ve created.

SKILLS:  Atisha also said, “The greatest action is not conforming with the world’s ways.” Imagine if you could write your résumé the way you wanted. It wouldn’t be so intimidating. It could be a list of things you never expected to be an expert at:

• Getting other people to do your work
• Peeling potatoes
• Beating credit card companies at their own game
• Giving expert advice

Which, on the flip side, brings up the things you thought you would be an expert at by now:

• Pouring milk from a gallon container into a glass
• Saying goodbye
• Avoiding the influences of TV commercials
• Starting conversation with people you’ve met for the first time

PLEASE INCLUDE A COPY OF YOUR RÉSUMÉ (II)

EXPERIENCE:  You type “character traits” into Google, thinking resourceful would fit perfectly in your résumé, and come across www.professional-resume-example.com, a website that helps with résumé writing by providing a word bank of key character traits to mention.  Examples include “reliable,” “efficient,” and “resourceful.”  Unfortunately, such vocabulary pools offer a short-lived remedy to your growing unease concerning how to articulate yourself. 

First, you realize every other person attempting to persuade that he or she is unique also fishes from the same pool.  Plus, most people suppose every word on the list applies to them – just as drivers, no matter what their age or how many tickets they may have, are all positive they’re good drivers.  So, of course you are dependable, organized, and sincere.

Second, there’s a difference between showing what makes you you in actions and expressing such in concrete words.  We are not versed in the vocabulary of selling ourselves. Can you mention you are outspoken, or will it act as a flag to employers that you may cause trouble?  After getting to bed at the same time for a week, can you list time management as one of your skills?  However, if you’re going to stand out, you have to move into the right language. 

It’s not easy to be perfect.  But you believe you can manage to sound so on a résumé.  Now, how do you get Mr. Reader to believe too?  Especially when you’re bulleting overused words which strip meaning from the nuances of your life?  And this is where anxiety makes another appearance.  By listing words, you’re either letting the words do too much work, perhaps aiming for the reader to make assumptions about how they apply to your experience, or losing both the complexity and the subtlety of your character in those approximately eight italicized letters.

§  Thomson and Thomson, law firm                                                       6/08-9/08

o   Implemented organizational system

o   Communicated work summaries daily

o   Translation: You did what you were told, filing papers into the correct cabinets as you gossiped with your fellow interns about how the law students were handling the stresses, usually via Facebook chat.

§  The Garden at Springfield, a retirement home                              5/09-present

o   Waitstaff, managed a section during shifts

o   Translation:  You have endured the unthinkable: waiting tables exclusively for the elderly.  While developing the patience of a saint amidst cranky demands for decaf tea and complaints that you forgot their butt-pillows, you’ve come closer to dealing with the physicalities of aging and the mental struggles with death than most people.

In these two examples, you’ve left almost all of your reality unstated.  Whether manipulating the reader’s imagination or understating the effect an experience has played in your life, a résumé never captures who you are.  Instead, at the center of a résumé lies a constructed persona.  We build résumés, and though we can’t rely on heritage to get us somewhere, Schloesser notes, “Even if you don’t think about it consciously, when you write your résumé, you’re establishing your lineage.”  In other words, as you sit down to write, you have to show what exactly you’ve done with that blank slate.

As such, in today’s society, a résumé is an account of what you’ve accomplished rather than who you are related to.  In his book Status Anxiety, Alain de Botton makes up the following newspaper headlines for well-known literary characters:

Othello:                    Love-Crazed Immigrant Kills Senator’s Daughter

Oedipus the King:     Royal in Incest Shocker

Madame Bovary:       Shopaholic Adulteress Swallows Arsenic after Credit Fraud

He follows up by noting that these headlines “[seem] incongruous… because we are used to thinking of the subjects to which they refer as being inherently complex and naturally deserving of a solemn and respectful attitude.”  So, when we are boiled down in a résumé – making headlines for ourselves – the self evaporates, leaving behind an induction certificate, a lab coat, or a company, not necessarily misleading, yet far from the depth presenting who you are deserves.

PLEASE INCLUDE A COPY OF YOUR RÉSUMÉ (I)

OBJECTIVE: Nothing triggers an identity crisis like writing your résumé. While the objective of a résumé itself is to give a simple summary of your experiences, it’s hard to ignore two contradictory thoughts that pop up together. First, that a résumé assumes you have something to summarize and second, that a résumé as a list of accomplishments is devoid of any personality – a one page “you” that completely misses who you are. Because it feels as if your résumé has become your sole entry into the Book of Life, writing one, whether for a summer job, a school application, or a career employment opportunity, becomes an examination of your value and whether or not you can convince an omniscient reader that you’re somebody who matters. 

If you were Alice and your résumé was the caterpillar, it would go something like this:

Caterpillar Résumé: Whoooo arrrrre youuuu?

You (Alice): I – I hardly know just at present – at least I knew this morning, but I must have changed my mind several times since then.

Caterpillar Résumé:  What do you mean by that?  Explain yourself!

You:  I can’t explain myself, because I’m not really sure who I am, you see?

Caterpillar Résumé: I don’t see (literally).

You: Well, I can’t put it more clearly because I don’t get it either. Yes, I can make something of myself, but why I have to prove to someone that I can seems absurd.

Caterpillar Résumé: Keep your temper! And for a little advice: on the one side consider the necessity of a résumé and how it can lift you up and on the other side, remember to keep it in perspective by shrinking it down. 

Well, there you have it. Although Caterpillar Résumé can’t smoke the hookah because he may catch on fire, he can still get to the crux of the matter: at the same time that you want to be recognized, you’re unsure of what you want to do and less sure about who you are.

EDUCATION: However, the need to make a name for yourself – the desire for individual recognition – is a relatively new development in man’s historical philosophies. Stephen Schloesser, S.J., a history professor at Boston College, emphasizes that throughout history “there was not this sense that we now have: that we start from scratch, a clean slate.” In the past, and still in traditional societies, a person’s role, and therefore identity, was easily determined. Blood, or less anatomically put, lineage, served as your instant résumé. Just add birth. For instance, in the Middle Ages, a daughter of a butcher would marry a son of a butcher in the same guild, who would, as expected, become a butcher. Identity-grappling free, your parents handed you your credentials, oftentimes nicely exhibited by a last name, like Smith, or Miller.          

Yet, over time, a shift towards an ideology based on merit took place. During the Enlightenment, the consensus that we should be able to reinvent ourselves developed because as individuals we possessed the power to define who we were, independent of proscribed factors. Inspiring? Absolutely. Although it was not the whole picture. 

Schloesser goes on, “While the belief that we can cut the past completely free has a certain appeal, we don’t think about the downside… that in a meritocracy, it comes down to what you have, or what you haven’t, done.” In essence, you are now completely responsible for establishing yourself. You get to pick what you want to do and who you want to be. An accountant or a pianist? Humble or rebellious? Or all? Choosing among the approximately 75 ice cream flavors at Ben & Jerry’s on a certain day triggers enough of an interruption in the fluidity of your life, without mentioning second guessing. Scale the number of options up to, well, infinity for the person you can become and now a choice so open-ended comes across as stifling rather than liberating.

The fact that your education is the first credential listed below contact information can be stifling or liberating as well. Indicated by its position of importance, education (how much, where, degree(s), and GPA) appears to be the initial deciding factor for a potential employer to continue reading or to cut the consideration short. Regardless of whether you sang your alma mater proudly, felt trapped by an institution in which you didn’t seem to belong, did not get a college degree, or sat somewhere in between, the education section is a way of categorizing you from the beginning. You start feeling the panic edging in. But, as always, the internet is there for you.

Résumé Crisis

My next posts are going to cover the way writing a résumé makes you feel and why. There will be four installments.

These thoughts were going through my head (and brought up by friends) while writing my own résumé and personal statement for grad school applications.

Green Porno

Hearing the word "shrimp" does not trigger images of shrimp cocktail, delicate pink ornaments hung on a glass, to me. I did lab research with dead shrimp for a year and a half. They were frozen. Ten years old. Gnarly. And with head (their entire length about the same as that of a stapler). I did not find jokes about "cooking them over a Bunsen burner" witty. 

But when I see something about shrimp, I still usually read it, or watch it, or click on the link. That's how I came upon "Green Porno," a short film series starring Isabella Rossellini and featured by the Sundance Channel. In the series, Rossellini shows how other organisms mate, in costume herself and with paper props. Who knew shrimp, squid, and limpets could be sexy? From there, I found her second series called "Seduce Me," exploring how other animals prepare for mating. She covers bed bugs here, a popular topic for New Yorkers. Interesting, funny, and artsy.