From the Bookshelf of Science and Inquiry…

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

Caroline Criado Pérez

Start date: November 1, 2019

Finish date: November 30, 2019

Discussion: Book Club 2019

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Book Club 2019

December 2019 - Uninhabitable Earth
By Betsy , co-mod · 8 posts · 108 views

last updated Dec 21, 2020 08:09AM

November 2019 - Invisible Women
By Betsy , co-mod · 17 posts · 122 views

last updated Oct 18, 2020 06:07PM

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What Members Thought

Nov 22, 2019 Charlene rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction-inequality

This book definitely deserves to win Book of the Year for science and technology (nonfiction would have been a better fit but whatever).

I wish I could give this 6 stars, and I wish every human around the world would read this book and make themselves aware of the inequalities women around the globe face simply because the world at large has been built for men. This is not necessarily out of malice. Active oppression -- refusing females an education, not allowing them to drive, or confining them This book definitely deserves to win Book of the Year for science and technology (nonfiction would have been a better fit but whatever).

I wish I could give this 6 stars, and I wish every human around the world would read this book and make themselves aware of the inequalities women around the globe face simply because the world at large has been built for men. This is not necessarily out of malice. Active oppression -- refusing females an education, not allowing them to drive, or confining them to their homes -- is not required for the emergence of gender inequality. Well meaning men have gathered information in order to build things like cars, companies, medicines, and more. The problem is that when they collected this data, they used males as the prototype. Much of the time women's needs don't even occur to them. She used the example of Sheryl Sandberg's pregnancy and its effect on google's policies to make this point.

I was most surprised by the data on gender travel patterns and even more surprised by the information about how difficult it can be for women in various parts of the world to find a safe place to go to the bathroom.

Even though I was not a fan of Hilary Clinton for president, I was floored by the comments in 2016 about her being unqualified or wanting to be elected simply because she was a woman. She was extremely qualified, certainly far more qualified then the reality tv star we have in the role currently. I was happy to listen to this author address some of the absurd ways Clinton was presented to the public in 2016.

Most the research was exceptional. Solid facts paired with keen insights worked to really show just how invisible the male standard is. While the title suggests that the book will be about how invisible women are, and they clearly often are, what it really stressed was how truly invisible our male norms are. For example, the focus, in general, on humans -- humans in the workplace, humans who travel, humans who use the bathroom, humans who work, and on and on -- is based on male humans. It's basically a given. Women are then supposed to assume that this applies to them -- sometimes -- too. (She details the many facts that show it really doesn't). But, if you try to focus on women's issues, it is seen as fringe or niche. A+ for driving this point home. Excellent writing and debating skills went into this book and the result is a truly salient argument that gives voice to the concerns women have while trying to exist in their societies, workplaces, and families. Bravo!

I had a few concerns about some things that were presented too simplistically. Sometimes if you are too simplistic about a topic, it takes away from the credibility of the overall argument, because it provides people with opportunities to poke holes in different places in the argument, which to some can serve to weaken the argument overall. One example of something portrayed without real world complexity was her argument about Rosalind Franklin. Franklin definitely does not get the recognition she deserves. There is no doubt about that. However, even though she was the one to take Photo 51, she did not realize the significance of the photo and was unable to, by herself, determine the structure of DNA. What is also true is that Watson could never have, by himself, determined the structure either. He stole, literally broke in and stole Photo 51 from Franklin's office. It is this thievery, and only this thievery that allowed him to discover the structure that won him a Nobel. That is what this author's focus should have been. She could have also focused on how Rosalind Franklin died, because of the dangers of her x-ray crystallography work, and Nobels were not granted posthumously. Watson was still alive, and with his fame and time on this earth, he chose to belittle the very woman from whom he stole his data that secured him a Nobel. To treat a woman in science, a brilliant woman in science, in such a manner is definitely something that could have and should have been discussed in this book. His autobiography was a #metoo nightmare for the memory of Franklin, whom he disparaged so often throughout his book. Instead, the Franklin example in this book was presented in a simple and basically incorrect way to the reader. It would have been worth it to put more time into that argument. Another example of simplicity was the discussion of exposure to BPA. I think an author who wants to build credibility should at least show that s/he is aware of limitations of the BPA studies. A meta analysis conducted by the government called previous findings into question. The levels previously thought to cause harm were much lower than what the meta analysis found. It is still a debate. While basic chemistry tells us that when heat is applied (think microwave), that heat can act as a catalyst to dissociate specific molecules from a plastic. Humans definitely don't seemed designed to add those molecules to their digestive/ metabolic system. So, high exposure to those molecules still seems concerning to me, whether or not we have figured out just how harmful those molecules are long term or not. When reading about BPA in this book, I got no sense that the author knew about the questionable finding she was presenting as fact. You cannot simply say BPA is harmful. You have to show that it methylates or de-methylates genes in humans or that there is a difference in male and female mice when exposed to BPA. I think it is important to at least seem aware of the limitations of these studies.

There were only a few issues like the foregoing. Even with these small issues, this book was much needed, brilliantly executed, and long over due! If I were only allowed to use one word to describe the information brought to light, it would be "jarring". I will definitely read books by this author in the future. ...more

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Feb 07, 2020 ktsn rated it did not like it · review of another edition

TL;DR Female chauvinism feigned as feminism.

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There are largely two types of feminism novels. One is like Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Herland, in which a women-only Utopian society eliminates war, oppression, and all maladies imaginable. The other type is like Naomi Alderman's The Power, which suggests women would fall into the same traps of bigotry and discrimination were they corrupted by power of domination, since they are still human beings, for both good and bad. Of course, everyone ...more

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Jan 23, 2020 Derek Langley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wow. A shockingly, gut-punchingly relentless exposé of the gender data gap.

I borrowed the book from my son and, having finished it, have bought my own copy since I do not want to do without it.

I confess that I approached this with some trepidation, the author being a well-known feminist and all that (I am a white middle-class male, btw). I’m not exactly a Bravo Two Zero man; I just hadn’t read any “feminist” literature before (whatever that means: see the problem?).
Turns out, if you’re a bloke, Wow. A shockingly, gut-punchingly relentless exposé of the gender data gap.

I borrowed the book from my son and, having finished it, have bought my own copy since I do not want to do without it.

I confess that I approached this with some trepidation, the author being a well-known feminist and all that (I am a white middle-class male, btw). I’m not exactly a Bravo Two Zero man; I just hadn’t read any “feminist” literature before (whatever that means: see the problem?).
Turns out, if you’re a bloke, that there are one or two rather serious questions to ask yourself. Actually quite a few more than two. And this is all supported by well-researched and referenced fact upon fact, so sit down counsel - objection overruled.

This book has changed the way I think.
I have absolutely never cat-called or wolf-whistled at a woman but I have certainly stood by (sat by) while my wife did far too much without any recognition. Unpaid, of course. And I have, for the most part, failed to notice how the world is designed for men: it really is, take a proper look. Smile while your wife/daughter/sister struggles to operate your electric drill. Wait patiently while they fiddle about with their seatbelt before you can hit the road. Be knowing and “woke” while they suffer their periodic and mood-swings and agonies, unaided. Read the book.

Better to try to do something about it, in some small way.

I am an (old) design engineer and a volunteer STEM Ambassador (that’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, although it does sound rather more sinister in this context...). For years I have been trying to encourage kids to do engineering and science subjects, something the UK has a desperate need for now and into the future. In particular, girls: they drop the subjects all too frequently and few go on to higher education in STEM subjects. But that’s more than just a statistic for me now, thanks to Caroline Criado Perez. The absence of women in engineering and science is one of the reasons that the man-shaped world persists today. And the reasons that girls drop the subjects in the first place are not unrelated to the same phenomenon. It’s the perfect circle.
So I’m going to put together a schools presentation that cries out for girls to get involved to help right the wrongs. I’m going to give it a go and try to change things, and I’m going to use this book as a reference and an inspiration. I’ll update this review if I survive...

And you don’t get that from an Andy McNab book do you? (Or, if you do, you’re a better man than I).

Essential reading for everybody, of all genders and all agendas, and at less than nine quid from Amazon, why wouldn’t you? I had many (past tense) excuses- what’s yours? ...more

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