My 2019 in Books – Part II

(continues from Part I)

“The Vagina Bible” by Jen Gunter

I first came across Dr. Jen Gunter in 2018 through a Facebook post that drove me to her blog. It was a blog post narrating how she “infiltrated” a Goop event. In case you don’t know it -good for you- Goop is a “Wellness” (make of that what you will) brand from Iron Man’s significant other’s real persona: Gwyneth Paltrow. It is total pseudoscience bullshit and, if that wasn’t enough, some of the things they sell and recommend can be extremely unhealthy and dangerous for any human. “Detox” is not a real process nor a necessity, and you do not need to insert jade eggs in your vagina. Period.

Anyway, I became a follower of Dr. Gunter throughout her social media platforms, and when she wrote about her upcoming book I immediately pre-ordered it from Amazon. Months passed, I forgot, and one sunny September afternoon the book arrived (it was launched in late-August 2019).

For a middle-class Guatemalan, I had the luxury of going to a good school that had frequent (still probably not enough) sexual education conferences and opportunities for us, since about 8 years old until last year of high school, to ask as much as we wanted in a comfortable environment. This type of education is, unfortunately, not common in every school, or every country, and worldwide sex and sexual education is still something treated stupidly secretive. Still, when discussed, it is usually focused on STDs, male anatomy, and the very creative myths around female virginity and value.

To combat the still-uncommon sexual education in most parts of the world and all the accessible misinformation on the internet that promotes unhealthy practices, Dr. Gunter gives us a book with medical and science-backed information about the female reproductive organs. All with funny personal stories and tips and tricks. She goes from the historical origin of several misconceptions and bad translations that have stuck in pop-culture around the vagina (spoiler: we can blame Freud for the myth of the vaginal orgasm), through transgender myths and health, to the truth behind squirting, vaginal microbiota, vaginal “fragility”, periods and menopause. You’ll even get some checklists on what to look for in some products like menstrual cups, pads, and tampons and lubes and condoms. Oh, and I finally got some answers on my paranoia around mTSS. Phew! And remember world: “just because you can eat it doesn’t mean its safe for the Vagina”.

While around the world politicians and religions keep interfering with women’s rights and the human right of education, we can start to combat it by educating ourselves and this book is definitely a step towards that. A must-read for every human (yes, men too, and I hate that I felt the need to make this clarification).

“Don’t be Such a Scientist” by Randy Olson

This book shattered my glass bubble of how we scientists grow into this “we know what the world needs” mentality and think people should just read the facts and act on them. Man, how arrogant we are! Oh scientists, although there are exceptions for sure, communication skills are not our strong suit (I don’t care how many conferences you’ve presented at).

As I read Don’t Be Such A Scientist I had several moments of “oh yeah, I’ve done that, and yes, it did NOT work”. Randy Olson points out some common characteristics amongst scientists that lead to our still mission impossible of making the general public understand and love science and take evidence-based decisions. However, when I mentioned some of these characteristics to scientist friends of mine, one of two things would happen. Some agreed and interesting discussions developed around how we can be and do better, while others immediately took those exact characteristics: “that’s not true, we communicate well, people just don’t like to read”. Oh dear.

Dr. Randy Olson, a scientist himself that upon getting tenure decided to abandon Academia and go to Hollywood and improve his communication and filmmaking skills, gives us a very necessary wake up call with this book. If you want to listen and wake up.

This can definitely apply to people from different disciplines, not just scientists. You need to read this with an open mind, be willing to do some objective self-reflection, and don’t take it so hard (but seriously). It’s a chance to be better scientists, in my opinion. We must learn when and with whom the sacrifice of some details (without sacrificing accuracy) is necessary. Not everybody likes the same things as you; not everyone is entertained the same way as you; but there are several common grounds on entertainment, communication and social psychology that we can use to better communicate our science.

This book is like a diagnosis of our SciComm flaws, but doesn’t leave us with just that – we also get some good tips to put to practice. Which leads me to the next book.

(Probably needless to say, but definitely get the latest edition!)

“Houston, We Have a Narrative” by Randy Olson

Damn right it’s the same author! In this book, Randy Olson moves from the wake-up call from “Don’t Be Such a Scientist” into a sort of “Cookbook” for improved SciComm. Through funny personal stories and some “case-studies” of real scientists that have been amazing communicators (and what they’ve achieved with it), here you get more ideas and tools to put to work to improve your next conference or dinner conversation.

It all boils down to the fact that we need more narrative. Well, that’s easier said than done. But fear not! Randy Olson gives plenty of advice and templates to work on our communication skills, whether you want to impress your next date, you need to improve your outreach program, or even if you’re talking to other scientists.

“Northanger Abbey” by Jane Austen

If there’s one thing I love about “the classics” is how they make us travel in time, get more empathic and learn some history – even if it’s fictional novels, the author writes (wrote?) from their real place in space and time.  Northanger Abbey was the first novel Jane Austen wrote, yet it was only published after her death. It is a novel narrated through a witty teenager, some satire around the aristocracy of the time and town, and a feminist theme can be felt throughout (200 years ago!). I think that, when it comes to novels, taste gets way more personal, especially with the number of authors, themes, and publications we have now. I’m not an expert in literature, so I’ll leave this one here short, but if you’re like me on a race against classics, Jane Austen is a must!

“The Complete Novels” of Franz Kafka

This book actually contains three of Kafka’s novels. The three novels that were published posthumously, and which he did not really want to have published. He left instructions to have the manuscripts burned after his death. His friend and biographer, Max Brod, published them anyway.

I bought this book after my visit to the Kafka Museum the first time I had the opportunity to go to Prague. The novels herein are The Trial, America, and The Castle. After learning more about Kafka’s life through the emotionally-disturbing museum, the novels were easier to empathize with. All three are interesting emotional rollercoasters that might feel too strong at times (The Trial and The Castle perhaps too similar at times), but they all have the type of mysterious, anxious and reflective character that I enjoy reading. It’s sad to think about it as most of his main characters seem to reflect some autobiographical character. Also, be ready for the Unfinished feeling.