Is there any reason you want those additional hormones?
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That is really interesting! I got my sociology degrees 20+ years ago, so it sounds like the field might be changing.
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Most of my sociology research was on crime and incarceration type stuff, but I haven’t read anything in the field in decades! Apparently even though I liked studying it, apparently it never made it into my pleasure reading. I have liked some behavioral economics stuff, like Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely.
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I adore Dan Ariely! 
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I personally do better mental health wise with the additional hormones, but everyone is different. Maybe ask your doc to check your hormone levels and then make a choice?
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I’ve never thought about it to be honest. What do the hormones do other than prevent pregnancy? I’ve been on bcp for 30ish years with no issues, but if not needed I might as well quit it.
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it feels like sociology hasn’t figured out how to popularize its material in the same way that anthropology and psych (especially the behavioural economics/science arm) have over the past two decades?
Yeah gut reaction is that it’s an extremely bad ethnography, lol. (I did anthro, not sociology, but anthro can often try to understand a culture through a person or group versus data).
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If I’ve heard the words “nyet” and “babushka”, that’s definitely Russian right? Does any other language share those words? (Trying to figure out what language a family I see on the playground a lot is speaking).
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Ukranian has those words.
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Polish has “babushka”. No is “nie” but sounds similar to “nyet”, I think.
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Ah okay, that was what I was wondering! I know we have a lot of Ukrainian families here.
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I probably wouldn’t be able to tell very close ones apart 
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Catching up on my charitable contributions - what is an organization I can donate to that’s like the opposite of the Proud Boys and all the awfulness that happened on January 6th? Or is there like an anti-disinformation type organization, or maybe something teaching media literacy/critical thinking skills to kids?
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Just an update on that book Uneasy Street, as promised from earlier.
Methodology
In the appendix she goes into methodology. I think it should have been first, but basically she had so much trouble getting access to rich people that it limited her scope. She also didn’t try to replicate the interviews and opted for free form (she mentioned “snowballing” method). Basically, the method didn’t work that well because most wealthy people didn’t want to participate or would agree to do it and then back out. She also mentioned that her sampling might not be representative since they were mostly liberal nonreligious people in NYC, and that rich people in other places and with other POV might have different orientations.
In the appendix, it sounds like she was trying to gather the very beginnings of interviews about affluence anxiety, and that the book was not at all intended to be comprehensive. She kind of said this in the intro, but without the explanation of why it made little sense to me as to WHY she would do that. According to her, no one has tried to study this since the 80s, so even getting this level of interview is a huge deal.
Anyway, it’s still kind of an interesting read because it’s fun to hear how super wealthy people think about spending. I don’t particularly agree with her conclusions, and I don’t think the dynamics she wrote about are exclusive to highly affluent (top 5%)…I think they’re more universal. I actually think she does a lot of the things she is critiquing, herself, like even IN the appendix. At one point she mentions being self-conscious about her old car, and justifying that she is also privileged (ivy league education, owns a car in brooklyn) but not nearly AS privileged as the interviewees (she points out that they live in different neighborhoods OF brooklyn). I thought that was kind of funny since she is so harsh about the respondents doing that exact minimization and comparison technique. But still…it was an ok read for what it is! I think anyone who has their own anxiety about wealth might find it intriguing.
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Sounds like a publisher and editor fail - insufficient data and a host of other problems with the methodology.
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My number #1 complaint about the general discussions about wealth inequality happening everywhere is the “but at least I don’t have a yacht”. I even do this myself all the time. I have a LOT of great things, but at the same time will say or think “well, my lifestyle isn’t as luxurious because I don’t have a car”
…for length…
Summary
Seems completely ingrained in human nature, or at least current American society to say “Well, it’s not like I have (car) (fancier car) (classic car) (house) (fancier house) (in-home movie theater) … etc…” when met with accusations of privilege.
I also think the discussion of first class vs economy flights is SO interesting. Seems to miss the issue that flying causes massive harm to all of us through carbon emissions so even a “broke” person in economy is doing something massively exorbitant. I might give this book a read myself. What I really want is an entire book about the socioeconomics of flying, which I’m sure exists and should find. I think anyone on a plane has economic privilege. I don’t think certain groups, professions, who are used to flying and glamorize travel understand that Middle America just doesn’t fly, ever, even if they have a significant amount of monetary comfort. I didn’t fly until 20 years old, and that’s because I wanted the experience for the hell of it so bought a cheap ticket on my own dime between two cities that were driving distance. I wouldn’t say I regret it, but over the past few years I’ve started to think about the climate a lot more so I’d say it was foolish. I still definitely hope to fly to different parts of the world in the future, but carefully considering climate externalities.
Nice to hear you around here AllHat, your great discussion topics really are missed! I remember a ton of your good advice and thoughts from back in the day.
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<3 Good to hear from you too! I fear I’m thread jacking (again) so I’ll spoiler…
Summary
The plane thing: yes, I hear you on that! I was the only kid in my 8th grade class who had ever been on an airplane and that was considered a very exotic/rich person thing to do.
I think the author also puts a lot more stock into “acknowledging privilege” than I do. I feel like at this point people say the word “privilege” as a blanket coverage of understanding of relative fortune, but not in a way that actually impacts their behavior or treatment of others (or their actual feelings about their own situations). It’s become meaningless IMO.
It also drives me batty when people as rich as I am (household income: $105k for two people) get angry at ultra wealthy people. The whole Occupy Wall Street/we are the 99% thing was so odd because so many people who make six figure salaries (or close to it) were up in arms about “rich people”. Like, co-workers of mine, friends I knew, the most outraged people I encountered were all high earners. I had to actually stop one friend mid-sentence when he was talking about the unfairness of privilege while we were in a private rented car on the way to a catered party and I asked, “don’t you think WE are rich?” Then he did the blanket “well I know I have privilege too, BUT” thing and kept on about how much the top 1% have and how they should do something about it. I mean, I get that it’s mind boggling how much the richest people in the world have…but we are still some of the richest people in the world. That isn’t untrue just because some people have way more. I just find it more compelling to talk about what we can do with our vast resources rather than what people even richer than us should do.
I did really like how in the book she pointed out the ridiculousness of the 99% as a concept. Like, people in the top 20% of that group versus the bottom 20%? It’s a different world completely. LMK if you find that book about plane travel, sounds v interesting!
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Yeah… I’ve noticed before that the people I know in real life who like to talk about how much they hate billionaires make twice the annual salary I do. 100% on the nose that as a $35k/year office worker in the US (and white to boot) I have one of the easiest lives in human history. But, medieval peasants also didn’t have student loans 
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