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A review by abbytait
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez
informative
medium-paced
4.5
4.5 stars- Should be reading mainly for its vast scope and underlying thesis that we need to know things before we change things. You cannot fix what you cannot measure or count- and that should not be a controversial or “woke” take.
While sometimes verging on textbook level stat/data dumps, Invisible Women is a fascinating and engaging perspective about how truly ingrained the gender data gap has become, and the serious and dangerous outcomes that are a result of this gap. The author successfully, in my opinion, makes the compelling argument that almost all facets of our world and society have been defaulted to men and the male experience, and that women continue to be lost in the data, which ultimately and unsurprisingly lead to policy and decisions that perpetuate inequities for women.
I really respect the underpinning premise to her novel - most men don’t explicitly and consciously set out to make women’s lives harder or cause harm (noting that of course a lot definitely do!!), but rather, as a collective, men in power historically have and continue to shape the world to suit them- and when it doesn’t suit them, they don’t even realize because they can’t understand a women’s experience but more importantly, our systems and structures aren’t even capturing the data to demonstrate it. This makes it SO important that the men in our lives, homes, workplaces, hospitals, schools, governments, etc. LISTEN.
Knowing is the first step- and once we have the numbers and stats, we must commit to attributing value to that data. We must see it as worthwhile enough to shape our policy, laws, regulations and governance, in order to see real and tangible change.
I especially loved two sections for the opposite reasons: the chapter on transit and city planning (something I’ve never considered or thought about!), and then the chapter on workplace gaps such as pay, performance and promotions (something that I intimately related too).
Lastly, the author does acknowledge racial intersections but it would’ve been strengthened by further exploration or acknowledgement in my opinion!
While sometimes verging on textbook level stat/data dumps, Invisible Women is a fascinating and engaging perspective about how truly ingrained the gender data gap has become, and the serious and dangerous outcomes that are a result of this gap. The author successfully, in my opinion, makes the compelling argument that almost all facets of our world and society have been defaulted to men and the male experience, and that women continue to be lost in the data, which ultimately and unsurprisingly lead to policy and decisions that perpetuate inequities for women.
I really respect the underpinning premise to her novel - most men don’t explicitly and consciously set out to make women’s lives harder or cause harm (noting that of course a lot definitely do!!), but rather, as a collective, men in power historically have and continue to shape the world to suit them- and when it doesn’t suit them, they don’t even realize because they can’t understand a women’s experience but more importantly, our systems and structures aren’t even capturing the data to demonstrate it. This makes it SO important that the men in our lives, homes, workplaces, hospitals, schools, governments, etc. LISTEN.
Knowing is the first step- and once we have the numbers and stats, we must commit to attributing value to that data. We must see it as worthwhile enough to shape our policy, laws, regulations and governance, in order to see real and tangible change.
I especially loved two sections for the opposite reasons: the chapter on transit and city planning (something I’ve never considered or thought about!), and then the chapter on workplace gaps such as pay, performance and promotions (something that I intimately related too).
Lastly, the author does acknowledge racial intersections but it would’ve been strengthened by further exploration or acknowledgement in my opinion!