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Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
by
Data is fundamental to the modern world. From economic development, to healthcare, to education and public policy, we rely on numbers to allocate resources and make crucial decisions. But because so much data fails to take into account gender, because it treats men as the default and women as atypical, bias and discrimination are baked into our systems. And women pay treme
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Hardcover, 411 pages
Published
March 12th 2019
by Abrams Press
(first published March 7th 2019)
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Start your review of Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

I really dislike conspiracy theories – in fact, few things make me angrier. The reason is that a conspiracy generally involves people plotting and planning and those people who are assumed to have the power to bring the conspiracy into effect generally have been shown in history to be pretty stupid – in fact, far too stupid to do the conspiracy and keep quiet about it. Conspiracy theories also tend to involve improbable leaps of faith along the way, you know, like the one that the US government
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Do not read this if you are suffering from high blood pressure, because it is absolutely rage inducing. However EVERYONE should read this at some point, it looks at things that I had never even considered, genuinely brilliant.
Second Read- so.... my Feminist bookclub have this on the list, so gave it a reread- just as goddamn rage inducing on the second read.
Second Read- so.... my Feminist bookclub have this on the list, so gave it a reread- just as goddamn rage inducing on the second read.

I don't know who would possibly want a man's opinion on a book about the problems with male default bias, but... here's my review.
This is essentially a collection of statistics which entail how systems made by men and for men are minimizing and marginalizing the other 50% of the population. It does this by breaking the statistics down into chapter-spanning categories and creating a cohesive narrative to explain how all of these events are related and come back to the same basic problem.
I would r ...more
This is essentially a collection of statistics which entail how systems made by men and for men are minimizing and marginalizing the other 50% of the population. It does this by breaking the statistics down into chapter-spanning categories and creating a cohesive narrative to explain how all of these events are related and come back to the same basic problem.
I would r ...more

Nov 08, 2019
Mario the lone bookwolf
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
0-feminism-equality,
0-social-criticism
Simply said, if someone is in power, he tries to make a policy that meets his wishes and reflects the image of the society, company, etc he wants to build. This can be done in a direct, evil way by treating minorities, women, atheists, etc. with repression until imprisonment, torture and death if they misbehave and in these cases, it is an obvious crime.
It gets more subtle when bigotry and indoctrination kick in and lead to both politicians and managers that are not all direct, misogynic sexist ...more
It gets more subtle when bigotry and indoctrination kick in and lead to both politicians and managers that are not all direct, misogynic sexist ...more

This is a book about unconscious bias. It's not about men deliberately excluding women when considering things like uniforms, city travel, or treatments for medical conditions ... although it's true that once the bias is pointed out, it's not always top of the list to make safety adjustments. And that's really one of the most important points of the book: it endangers women if you design and build the world without considering women's needs and habits. Women are built in a particular way, and th
...more

This is a really good comprehensive investigation of how a failure to account for gender based needs and requirements results in a bias towards cis men.
This is exactly why the casual cissexism embedded in it is so unfortunate and harmful.
Perez critics the continuous overlooking of women and women's needs, but is herself continuously overlooking trans and nonbinary people. She also keeps switching between sex and gender as interchangeable.
The most problematic claim is that a lack of sex-segregate ...more
This is exactly why the casual cissexism embedded in it is so unfortunate and harmful.
Perez critics the continuous overlooking of women and women's needs, but is herself continuously overlooking trans and nonbinary people. She also keeps switching between sex and gender as interchangeable.
The most problematic claim is that a lack of sex-segregate ...more

Jul 03, 2019
Joanne Harris
added it
This is a long-delayed, hugely important book, which people of ALL genders should be reading. Sadly, more people seem to be discussing it than have actually read it. It's not just about crash test dummies, or voice recognition software, or airline seats, or toilet queues, or medical research. It's about the systematic way in which data on women has been ignored, neglected and downright erased, whereas data on men is not only abundant, but recognized as the universal norm. The needs of the "avera
...more

Invisible Women is the story of what happens when we forget to account for half of humanity. It is an exposé of how the gender data gap harms women when life proceeds, more or less as normal. In urban planning, politics, the workplace. It is also about what happens to women living in a world built on male data when things go wrong. When they get sick. When they lose their home in a flood. When they have to flee that home because of war.
My husband is not a knuckle-dragging caveman, but he is a mi ...more

Q:
Most of recorded human history is one big data gap. Starting with the theory of Man the Hunter, the chroniclers of the past have left little space for women’s role in the evolution of humanity, whether cultural or biological. Instead, the lives of men have been taken to represent those of humans overall. When it comes to the lives of the other half of humanity, there is often nothing but silence.
And these silences are everywhere. Our entire culture is riddled with them. Films, news, literature ...more
Most of recorded human history is one big data gap. Starting with the theory of Man the Hunter, the chroniclers of the past have left little space for women’s role in the evolution of humanity, whether cultural or biological. Instead, the lives of men have been taken to represent those of humans overall. When it comes to the lives of the other half of humanity, there is often nothing but silence.
And these silences are everywhere. Our entire culture is riddled with them. Films, news, literature ...more

Incredibly interesting!

Eye opening!!! So interesting to see how deep inequality really goes systemically. I mean you know it does, but I've never looked at it through the eyes of all of this data before, or lack there of. It discusses a lot of topics that are not generally talked about when people are talking about gender inequality. Areas that you have never even thought about; for example things like snow removal, public transportation, how public bathrooms are designed. Some of the things discussed are life threate
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Read this if you're ready to get mad about how basically every research study done and used to create solutions to problems for "all people" are based on the average white male. Not surprising, but infuriating to see it laid out so plainly. I've always been so angered about technology being not useful for my tiny hands, and it's relieving -- and again, angering and frustrating -- this is just a norm of being female when research completely excludes the fact your body isn't the average white dude
...more

Had a hard time reading this, skipped, scanned, got bored with the ranting and the constant portaying women as victims and mothers. They are many times, but especially in western countries they have and can do more than is suggested in this book. Underwhelming. And yes: I am a feminist. ♀️

Jun 12, 2019
Anna
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Anna by:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst...
I decided to read ‘Invisible Women’ after coming across an extract from it in the Guardian and associated discussion on twitter. Both focused on how practically everything is designed for the mythical ‘average man’. I'm very aware of this due to being only 5ft tall. I cannot reach any overhead racks in trains, hanging straps in buses, or top shelves in supermarkets. I’ve given up on backpacks because they’re never comfortable and find smart phones incredibly unwieldy to use, one of many reasons
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If you want more anger inducing proof for the fact that the systems in place across the world are inherently rigged against women because male definitions and standards have always been default, then this book is a perfect read. Even supposedly gender-neutral designs are actually biased against women due to non-availability of sex-disaggregated data.
This staggering lack of data shapes the dangerous terrain women try to navigate on a daily basis. Perez, in this book, presents numerous examples wi ...more
This staggering lack of data shapes the dangerous terrain women try to navigate on a daily basis. Perez, in this book, presents numerous examples wi ...more

You know the feeling when you have known something all your life but everyone else thinks your mental when you talk about it. How often I have been told to be exaggerating when I pointed out bias against women. I mean most people will agree that it exists, but when I go on about how systematic it is, stacked against us in a way that it feels impossible to win or even pull a draw... then eyes start to glaze over. In comes @ccriadoperez excellent book that I recommend everyone to read especially a
...more

There is so much relevant, important, fascinating, and deeply troubling information here about the ways in which the world, in big and small ways, is built for white men. BUT. I have to give this book two stars for its appalling erasure of trans and nonbinary people. The words themsleves (transgender, nonbinary, gender non-conforming) do not even appear in this book. Not once. Nor does the word cisgender. In a book about the ways that a lack of data renders women invisible, and the ways that inv
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Popsugar challenge 2020 - A Book Recommended by your favourite Vlog / A Book that won an Award in 2019
This is my least favourite non fiction format as its pretty data heavy but such a fascinating read that it was quite enjoyable wading through it.
This books focuses on us, females. 50% of the world population and we rarely feature in any statistics or data.
Language, emojis, transport, snow clearing, door weight, car design and pandemics are a few of the many data gaps that are analysed in this b ...more
This is my least favourite non fiction format as its pretty data heavy but such a fascinating read that it was quite enjoyable wading through it.
This books focuses on us, females. 50% of the world population and we rarely feature in any statistics or data.
Language, emojis, transport, snow clearing, door weight, car design and pandemics are a few of the many data gaps that are analysed in this b ...more

This book!! It took me a long time to read, since it´s a lot about (very frustrating) numbers. It´s pretty great, and terrifying at the same time. We have a lot of work to do, if we want things to truly change, but the first thing to maybe read this book and try to understand all the different things that are still separating women from really being equals in a default male world.

I read this hoping to do a presentation at work for our Women's Development forum, but holy crap, how in the world do you boil down such a densely filled book into 10-15 slides and a clean summary?
IT CAN'T BE DONE.
Well, I guess it can, but I wouldn't come close to doing justice to this vastly important book. "Gender data gap" would sound too much like a buzz word, and the message could never penetrate as it should.
Instead I am submitting this as a book club choice at work, but hoping we can re ...more
IT CAN'T BE DONE.
Well, I guess it can, but I wouldn't come close to doing justice to this vastly important book. "Gender data gap" would sound too much like a buzz word, and the message could never penetrate as it should.
Instead I am submitting this as a book club choice at work, but hoping we can re ...more

Since I've picked up this book, I've recommended it to everyone I've talked to, and now I'm recommending it to you. This is an extremely well-researched and comprehensive look at the gender data gap in all aspects of life, ranging from the utterly absurd to the life-threatening. The sub-subtitle of this book could be "but wait, there's more" as Criado Perez delves deep into the social construction of the gender data gap with both conscious humour and appropriate outrage. I cannot recommend this
...more

Jan 29, 2020
BrokenTune
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
reviewed
Utterly brilliant.
What an infuriating, thought-provoking, well-researched, well-presented investigation into the gender data gap and the problems this causes with respect to women being represented in all parts of life.
The breadth and level of detail that the author covers is fantastic. The referencing to research alone makes this book stand out for me as it does back up what often is communicated as anecdotal evidence - i.e. is usually disputable - with something far more concrete. The statist ...more
What an infuriating, thought-provoking, well-researched, well-presented investigation into the gender data gap and the problems this causes with respect to women being represented in all parts of life.
The breadth and level of detail that the author covers is fantastic. The referencing to research alone makes this book stand out for me as it does back up what often is communicated as anecdotal evidence - i.e. is usually disputable - with something far more concrete. The statist ...more

Everybody should read this.

ARC received in exchange for an honest review 👱♀️
Incredibly interesting and insightful, 'Invisible Women' explores the often forgotten yet rife data bias in gender. Throughout culture, male biased opinions and ideas form the basis of societal thought and influence - leading to a disadvantage for women in all aspects of their life. It's a disadvantage you may not even be aware of or tend to brush off as a daily inconvenience. It's the shelves in the supermarket that are too high because they've ...more
Incredibly interesting and insightful, 'Invisible Women' explores the often forgotten yet rife data bias in gender. Throughout culture, male biased opinions and ideas form the basis of societal thought and influence - leading to a disadvantage for women in all aspects of their life. It's a disadvantage you may not even be aware of or tend to brush off as a daily inconvenience. It's the shelves in the supermarket that are too high because they've ...more

I wish I could make everyone read this book in the hope that every man could actually see how insignificant women are in a male-oriented world. Quite simply, we do not exist.
When I was 13 I adored reading Sherlock Holmes stories but I soon worked out that when a man refers to ‘people’ what he actually means is ‘other men’. Every single thing that impacts on the lives of women has actually been designed by men for the benefit of men. From cars to taxes, from medication to disaster relief time and ...more
When I was 13 I adored reading Sherlock Holmes stories but I soon worked out that when a man refers to ‘people’ what he actually means is ‘other men’. Every single thing that impacts on the lives of women has actually been designed by men for the benefit of men. From cars to taxes, from medication to disaster relief time and ...more

This is a wide-ranging and thoroughly enraging study of how the world is explicitly designed around men. I think it's very easy to understand, at a high level, that societies are patriarchal and that sexism exists. It's another thing to look at each of the assumptions that undergird specific examples of men as the default, and to look at the (frankly) terrible outcomes that industries and areas provide for women as a result. Did you know that EU car manufacturers do not have to pass any crash te
...more

A really strong and interesting read. It's a very powerful, somewhat depressing but entirely eye-opening look at how women and data surrounding women is left out of the system we live it. I would highly, highly recommend.
...more

'Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men" by Carolyn Criado-Pérez spectacularly describes factually and scientifically every problem all women have in navigating every society in the world using scientific Big Data, and small data.
Criado-Pérez goes deep describing the issues of Men thinking about Women and the results of that thinking: from physical safety to using tools/machines/weapons to difficulties in networking to harmful stereotypes to body-shaming. I was reminded of the p ...more
Criado-Pérez goes deep describing the issues of Men thinking about Women and the results of that thinking: from physical safety to using tools/machines/weapons to difficulties in networking to harmful stereotypes to body-shaming. I was reminded of the p ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Books Ever After: Maandboek maart 2021 - Onzichtbare vrouwen - Caroline Criado Pérez | 42 | 57 | Mar 29, 2021 02:13AM | |
Data Book Club: JANUARY Book: Invisible Women | 1 | 14 | Jan 03, 2021 11:41AM | |
Club de lecture S...: Aug-Sep 2020 | Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez | 5 | 5 | Nov 04, 2020 11:00AM | |
Social Justice Bo...: "Invisible Women" Parts Five and Six | 4 | 13 | Sep 02, 2020 12:56PM |
Caroline Criado Perez is a best-selling and award-winning writer, broadcaster and feminist campaigner. She is published across the major national media, and appears in both print and broadcast as a commentator on a wide range of topics.
Notable campaigns include getting a female historical figure on Bank of England banknotes; getting Twitter to introduce a "report abuse" button on tweets; getting t ...more
Notable campaigns include getting a female historical figure on Bank of England banknotes; getting Twitter to introduce a "report abuse" button on tweets; getting t ...more
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Every December, as we wrap up our annual Goodreads Reading Challenge, we ask our book-loving colleagues a simple yet incredibly tough...
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“There is no such thing as a woman who doesn’t work. There is only a woman who isn’t paid for her work.”
—
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“The result of this deeply male-dominated culture is that the male experience, the male perspective, has come to be seen as universal, while the female experience--that of half the global population, after all--is seen as, well, niche.”
—
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