BOOK:  Women and religion in the west: Challenging secularization
AUTHOR: Linda Woodhead
SUMMARY: The contemporary contradictions of femininity are nicely captured by the hugely successful L'Oreal advertising campaign "Because I'm worth it", launched in 1973 and still running today. On the one hand, the slogan captures just how much has changed for women as they have been allowed access to male projections of independent, self-referential, entitled self-hood as never before. On the other hand, the very necessity of having to make such an assertion and, more importantly, to prove one's worth by buying expensive beauty products in order to make oneself more attractive and "worthy" indicates just how fragile the sense of entitlement may be.

CULTURAL REFERENCE:  ​The misogynist adverts by L'Oreal.

JOURNAL:  American Journal of Physiology
AUTHORS: Minga M. Sellers, John N. Stallone
SUMMARY: Historically, the vasodilatory prostanoids, especially prostacyclin and prostaglandin E2, are believed to contribute significantly to the regulation of normal vascular tone and blood pressure (BP), primarily by counteracting the prevailing effects of the systemic vasoconstrictor systems, including angiotensin II, the catecholamines, and vasopressin. In contrast, the primary vasoconstrictor prostanoid thromboxane A2 (TxA2) is produced in far smaller quantities in the normal state. While TxA2 is believed to play a significant role in a variety of cardiovascular diseases, such as myocardial infarction, cerebral vasospasm, hypertension, preeclampsia, and various thrombotic disorders, its role in the regulation of vascular tone and BP in the normal physiological state is, at best, uncertain.

CULTURAL REFERENCE:  ​Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by the Rolling Stones, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. The song is an ironic homage to the Devil, written in the first-person narrative from his point of view, recounting atrocities committed throughout the history of humanity.