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mewtwoapologist's review against another edition
3.0
i’ll give this a solid 3 and preface that i do think it’s worth reading.
there’s a lot of important information in this book. it really did open my eyes to so many ways women were ignored that i did not even think of. and just reaffirmed my pessimism about the medical disadvantage of having a female body everywhere in the world…anyway, i think this book contains material that should be read by anyone who cares about the plight of women in this world. but….
the political perspective from which this book is written is so painful. hillary clinton and melinda gates are not leaders in closing the gender gap be serious. it’s just such a neoliberal perspective-everything from the quips she thinks are witty to the proposed solutions to these issues. and on one hand yes, for so much of the world, the situation of women is so dire, we have to meet them where they’re at. but it’s so clear that the writer’s ideal is a capitalism and a democracy that “works for women too.” it’s just very frustrating because the contents of this book are so essential, but the analysis is very lacking. and one can argue that that’s not the goal of the book, but she really does needlessly insert her opinions like yes we know who YOU would have voted for in 2016 if you were american (she is british).
anyway i may add more later because i read this slowly over several weeks and forgot a lot of my comments but yeah. it’s a frustrating and depressing read but still probably the best source for all of this data (and lack thereof).
there’s a lot of important information in this book. it really did open my eyes to so many ways women were ignored that i did not even think of. and just reaffirmed my pessimism about the medical disadvantage of having a female body everywhere in the world…anyway, i think this book contains material that should be read by anyone who cares about the plight of women in this world. but….
the political perspective from which this book is written is so painful. hillary clinton and melinda gates are not leaders in closing the gender gap be serious. it’s just such a neoliberal perspective-everything from the quips she thinks are witty to the proposed solutions to these issues. and on one hand yes, for so much of the world, the situation of women is so dire, we have to meet them where they’re at. but it’s so clear that the writer’s ideal is a capitalism and a democracy that “works for women too.” it’s just very frustrating because the contents of this book are so essential, but the analysis is very lacking. and one can argue that that’s not the goal of the book, but she really does needlessly insert her opinions like yes we know who YOU would have voted for in 2016 if you were american (she is british).
anyway i may add more later because i read this slowly over several weeks and forgot a lot of my comments but yeah. it’s a frustrating and depressing read but still probably the best source for all of this data (and lack thereof).
ericamoreira's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
jonimnewman's review against another edition
5.0
Invisible Women is an overwhelming book in a lot of ways. So much data, so many places where women are overlooked in the way our society constructs . . . Pretty much everything. Still, I didn’t leave this book feeling as discouraged as some seem to have. This book helped me feel more empowered to speak up for the gaps that I see, and helped me notice some of the gaps I didn’t know about worldwide. Knowledge is power, and this book is powerful.
clydefr0ggs's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
yoleolibros's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed this (wish I had done it as a physical book instead of an audio book to save some of the data), but I think it was missing one really critical piece. While the book discussed gendered data gaps at length, it barely scratched the surface of intersecting data issues including race, disability, language, and others. It feels like a real missed opportunity to talk about how data collection practices can be seeped in bias if we aren’t careful and representative of systems of oppression. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the breakdowns around data - particularly in relation to city building, crisis response, economic security polices, and health. Just felt like it could have gone further.
jessica__downing's review against another edition
3.0
(Audiobook) Very educational. I learned a lot I didn’t know before. I found myself saying “did you know that [insert fact]?” to my husband multiple times a day. Definitely fueled my feminist fire. Appreciated the section about women’s experiences in the software industry. Gave it 3 stars because it’s not exactly a page turner. It was a great book to listen to while doing other things.
lilwiccankitten's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
4.25
Admittedly with all the numbers thrown around it is a bit of a dry read but still very interesting and informative
am_paro's review against another edition
1.0
Based on the assumption that there are exactly two genders and two sexes, this book provides overwhelming evidence for the ways in which nearly every society on earth privileges men (the default) over women (the other).
The book touches lightly on other factors that harm women as well, including racial minority status and socioeconomic status. But a glaring omission--indeed, it is erasure--is any discussion of transgender women and men, as well as nonbinary/other genders, intersex people, and any other person who is not a "man," that is, a cis man. While it's true that societies largely do operate on a gender/sex binary, the oppression that this results in does not only fall on cis women. I am dismayed that a book like this would be published in 2019 without a full discussion of intersectionality.
This is a problem with the book's premise, that improving the availability of data on women's experiences can lead to better policy and thereby more equitable outcomes. While that's true in some of the examples cited by the author, is the lack of data really the big problem? I fear that even if we were swimming in data showing that "the other" were disadvantaged in every way, policy would not change so long as "the default" were in charge, because the source of the unwillingness to collect and use the data in the first place is misogyny, transphobia, etc. Why bother to make women's lives better if you hate women? if you hate anyone who is not a "man"--someone who presents as male and performs sufficient masculinity? It's easy to throw out the rational comfort of data with this irrational attitude.
The book touches lightly on other factors that harm women as well, including racial minority status and socioeconomic status. But a glaring omission--indeed, it is erasure--is any discussion of transgender women and men, as well as nonbinary/other genders, intersex people, and any other person who is not a "man," that is, a cis man. While it's true that societies largely do operate on a gender/sex binary, the oppression that this results in does not only fall on cis women. I am dismayed that a book like this would be published in 2019 without a full discussion of intersectionality.
This is a problem with the book's premise, that improving the availability of data on women's experiences can lead to better policy and thereby more equitable outcomes. While that's true in some of the examples cited by the author, is the lack of data really the big problem? I fear that even if we were swimming in data showing that "the other" were disadvantaged in every way, policy would not change so long as "the default" were in charge, because the source of the unwillingness to collect and use the data in the first place is misogyny, transphobia, etc. Why bother to make women's lives better if you hate women? if you hate anyone who is not a "man"--someone who presents as male and performs sufficient masculinity? It's easy to throw out the rational comfort of data with this irrational attitude.