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A review by ashwaar
Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.25
I'm continuing my trend of reading feminist non-fiction, and I recently read Invisible Women and found it incredibly engaging and interesting. I highly recommend this book to everyone, as the data it highlights impacts all of us.
Pérez begins this book by discussing the historical acceptance of the male form as default, which I found fascinating. She discusses Ancient Greek philosophers describing the female body as a perversion of the male and goes on to discuss women's exclusion in everything from medical trials to public transport to crash test dummies.
This book is also incredibly frustrating because there's no one to blame for these failures. The basis of these gender biases are so deeply entrenched in our everyday thinking we don't even stop to question them. We don't stop to think why the women's bathroom always has a line or why medical textbooks predominantly contain diagrams of the male body.
Some of these biases or gender data gaps seem like nothing more than inconveniences, something women just have to deal with in a world built for men. However, these inconveniences can build up and, in some cases, are outright killing women. For example, using car crash dummies based on the average male body exclude women from these safety tests. Or not factoring women in medical research trials because their fluctuating hormones make them too much of an anomaly.
This book is justifiably angry at the gender data gap, and as a reader, you will be as well. I learnt so much from this book, and I feel like I need everyone else to read it as well. It is very data-heavy throughout, and if you have a physical copy, I recommend highlighting some statistics. If you're debating with someone who doesn't think the gender data gap exists, point them to this book, as it's essential reading.
Read more on Wordpress at Bookmarked by Ash: https://book990337086.wordpress.com/
Pérez begins this book by discussing the historical acceptance of the male form as default, which I found fascinating. She discusses Ancient Greek philosophers describing the female body as a perversion of the male and goes on to discuss women's exclusion in everything from medical trials to public transport to crash test dummies.
This book is also incredibly frustrating because there's no one to blame for these failures. The basis of these gender biases are so deeply entrenched in our everyday thinking we don't even stop to question them. We don't stop to think why the women's bathroom always has a line or why medical textbooks predominantly contain diagrams of the male body.
Some of these biases or gender data gaps seem like nothing more than inconveniences, something women just have to deal with in a world built for men. However, these inconveniences can build up and, in some cases, are outright killing women. For example, using car crash dummies based on the average male body exclude women from these safety tests. Or not factoring women in medical research trials because their fluctuating hormones make them too much of an anomaly.
This book is justifiably angry at the gender data gap, and as a reader, you will be as well. I learnt so much from this book, and I feel like I need everyone else to read it as well. It is very data-heavy throughout, and if you have a physical copy, I recommend highlighting some statistics. If you're debating with someone who doesn't think the gender data gap exists, point them to this book, as it's essential reading.
Read more on Wordpress at Bookmarked by Ash: https://book990337086.wordpress.com/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Medical content, and Pregnancy