Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez

138 reviews

zombiezami's review against another edition

Although I was excited for this book and getting lots of interesting and surprising facts from it, some of the turns of phrase struck me as outdated at best and cis-centric/transphobic at worst. Some of these include "female-bodied," saying she considers women to be those with XX chromosomes (fun fact: almost no one checks their chromosomes because it's expensive to do so, so the XX/XY dichotomy is a generalization, even before you get into intersex people existing), and quoting someone who says that "pregnancy is not a gender-neutral event." These statements, plus hearing that the author was British, gave me pause. 

I searched the author online and found that she had said some transphobic dogwhistles that she erased rather than apologizing for. Aside from this, her solutions to various issues such as sexual violence seem focused on carcerality. Even if the author had said, "I'm focusing on cis women because that's what data I have," that would have been a bit more excusable, but I don't feel good about continuing to read this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Transphobia, and Excrement

Minor: War

Menstruation

xosirenox's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Classism

savvylit's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

4.0

What an eye-opening read this was! Criado Perez delves into so many ways that women go unacknowledged in our global culture at large. One of the most fascinating instances of this is women's unpaid work. This includes housework, cooking, gardening, childcare, eldercare, and more. By not acknowledging these tasks as work, our society fails to acknowledge so much. We ignore the emotional & physical toll AND how this work bolsters our global economy. Paid work genuinely cannot occur without unpaid work. And the majority of all unpaid work is done by women.

Additional upsetting facts straight from Invisible Women:

"By the time [girls in the U.S.] turn six.. they start doubting their gender. If a game is presented to them as intended for 'children who are really, really smart,' five year old girls are as likely to want to play it as boys -- but six year old girls are suddenly uninterested."

"PMS affects 90% of women, but is chronically under-studied: one research round-up found five times as many studies on erectile dysfunction than on PMS."

"[A] 2010 study didn't just find that female politicians were seen as less caring. It found that this perception inspired moral outrage in both male and female study participants, who viewed such women with contempt, anger, and/or disgust."

I have only one major criticism -- Invisible Women almost entirely focuses on fixing data bias within a capitalist framework. I personally wish for our global society to shift AWAY from capitalism. As I read Invisible Women, I couldn't help but wonder what gender equality would look like under a more community-oriented economic system.

Ultimately though, I think that (under current capitalist conditions) this book should be required reading. Particularly for men in any leadership role, period. There are still so many realms in the world in which women and their needs are consistently excluded.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, and Medical content

faduma's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

jessthanthree's review against another edition

challenging informative sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Body shaming, Miscarriage, Abortion, and Pregnancy

gingercheddar's review against another edition

dark informative sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

miniando's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative fast-paced

4.75

Shocking but informative, covering a whole range of issues that women face across the world. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Racism

fsouthworth's review against another edition

challenging funny informative medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

gabbyreynolds's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Sexism

katreads2022's review against another edition

emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

A shocking, sad book. Really covers a breadth of issues facing women today. The breadth is so vast that sometimes coherency is sacrificed to cram in loosely related facts and figures. It is, however, wonderfully researched and an informative read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Trafficking and Medical trauma