The full title is ‘Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men’
Here is the description:
Imagine a world where your phone is too big for your hand, where your doctor prescribes a drug that is wrong for your body, where in a car accident you are 47% more likely to be seriously injured, where every week the countless hours of work you do are not recognised or valued. If any of this sounds familiar, chances are that you’re a woman.
Invisible Women shows us how, in a world largely built for and by men, we are systematically ignoring half the population. It exposes the gender data gap – a gap in our knowledge that is at the root of perpetual, systemic discrimination against women, and that has created a pervasive but invisible bias with a profound effect on women’s lives.
Award-winning campaigner and writer Caroline Criado Perez brings together for the first time an impressive range of case studies, stories and new research from across the world that illustrate the hidden ways in which women are excluded from the very building blocks of the world we live in, and the impact this has on their health and wellbeing. From government policy and medical research, to technology, workplaces, urban planning and the media – Invisible Women reveals the biased data that excludes women. In making the case for change, this powerful and provocative book will make you see the world anew.
Fantastic book I think anyone and everyone should read. I recommend it heavily to others. Sometimes people think it will be a very social justice style book, but it really isn’t. It’s presented with just facts and data that make you go “Wow I can’t believe that’s how things are made/designed/planned. That’s insanely stupid.” It doesn’t preach at you at all.
Yes! It is really interesting and frankly frustrating to read. Good book
check out ‘Race after technology’ as well. Similar topic, but instead about everyone favorite subject, race.
Yes, I started it and her podcast but never finished the book or kept listening - her writing is good and content great but just kinda upsetting how fucked up the world is
It was an amazing amazing read. Made me switch to menstrual cups right then and there too :D was on my period reading that chapter and I was like oh sshhhhhiiiit
I started it a while ago but it made me so angry I haven’t continued it yet
It took me a long time to read, as it infuriated me, but was well worth taking it slow. It really impacted me and I bring it up regularly. A really important data driven book. I am constantly telling people about the facts it reveals regarding car crash testing in particular, very shocking
The last chapter is less angering. I had to skip to it, I couldn’t finish either
This book should be read by everyone. It rocked me.
I read it right after I read Cathy O’Neil’s Weapons of Math Destruction, in data collection in the way that big data and algorithms are being used all across society against both women and POC. They fit together really well but together they ended up making me feel really hopeless.
Amen!!
Loved it, we read it in my company’s marginalized genders’ group book club. I agree that it’s a tough read and can make me angry, but it also was very validating of my experiences and why I often feel unsafe or doubt the advice of experts. That part was nice.
Yes! I recommend this book to everyone I can. The ones who read it always come back to tell me that it made them mad lol
It’s on my list to read!!
Yes! I’m a psychiatrist and learned loads from it - I recommend it all the time to my colleagues!
I agree with the points she made about the medical field (when I myself had heart problems, it was thought to be anxiety and not investigated/recognised as medical until I was admitted to the Coronary Care unit for a week and needed a pacemaker…), but I had already been broadly aware of these issues.
For me the more eye-opening chapter was about town/city planning and how development and transport issues disproportionately negatively affect women (e.g having a “flat rate” bus fare means women are more out of pocket as they often do lots of smaller trips (shopping, care, etc) rather than just to/from work!).
If anyone here is even slightly interested, I’d definitely say to them to pick it up! I “read” the audiobook first but then got a physical copy because I reference it so often! 🤓
I teach graduate psych students and often reference the same chapters. I just picked up a spare copy of the book for my office.
Yes! I recommend it to everyone - it covers so much and has so many statistics to back everything up. It is very infuriating to read as a woman seeing just how many things in life are stacked up against you that you would never even realise (e.g., crash dummies are modelled after the average male so women have higher incidences of injury in car crushes)
has so many statistics to back everything up
dont forget that statistics is the easiest way to lie, especially when the seeming conclusion is outrageous enough
it only works when someone questions it, and then the author or their colleagues answer - only then one can really tell who’s right and who’s wrong
YES! It changed my life. I left my corporate role and now teach Data Analytics & Visualization in an MBA program. I am active in Women in Data Science and use this book as one of the case studies and required reading. We spend two weeks talking about the impact of data bias on decision making and how bad data studies with poorly assembled samples lead to bad outcomes.
I adore this book. It changed my life as a woman. It changed how I saw myself. It started an incredible journey for me and I am so grateful for having read this book.
That’s fantastic. Maybe you should message her and let her know.
❤️ So proud of you.
She also has a podcast and email newsletter.
Almost every time my seatbelt hits my neck I think of her book.