Invisible Women

Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

By: Caroline Criado Perez

Narrated by: Caroline Criado Perez

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 tremendous costs for this bias in time, money, and often with their lives.

Celebrated feminist advocate Caroline Criado Perez investigates the shocking root cause of gender inequality and research in Invisible Women, diving into women's lives at home, the workplace, the public square, the doctor's office, and more. Built on hundreds of studies in the US, the UK, and around the world, and written with energy, wit, and sparkling intelligence, this is a groundbreaking, unforgettable expose that will change the way you look at the world.

©2019 Caroline Criado Perez (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Not great science but interesting

As a scientist, I think the author makes some pretty big leaps between cause and effect at points. That said, she did a tremendous amount of research and the facts alone are compelling. I wouldn’t accept a students paper that relied on this book as evidence but it will easily point them in the right direction for solid source data.

Necessary reading but be cautious with data

Its surely a necessary read for men...

There is lot of anger and frustration by author but i did not find it unjustified. Having said that, the research is a different matter. Its filled with statistics that will take time to verify and audible is not a good option when it comes to finding citations. Now i have to get the book and do that. So my review in some sense could be incorrect. It all depends on factuality of the data and i don't know anything about that yet. i still wrote a review as its unlikely ill check all facts out anytime soon.

Author's anguish and contempt for men is surely a red flag (i might be very much based in factual data), but because there are some oversimplified conclusions asserted from that data, it will raise your eye brows and you would wonder how much effort did she put into preventing her own bias. for instance, the story of brilliant bias reeks indulgence , a self gratification rather than objectivity. Not because its not true, there is a reality of benefit of doubt for skill and intelligence that may be extended to men in some cultures and groups. Fine....but author takes it further and generalizes this idea to entire world. That brilliance in women as an idea is suppressed. That as a generality is far from truth. similiarly, nursing in India is a largely a female occupation, so is nannying across entire world and so is maid services. Doctors, biotechnologies, IT have a good volume of females compared to others. This is ofcourse partly DUE to current perception of female...However all above (except doctors, IT) have gender based entry barriers to male which are overlooked by author. May be because it doesnt serve the purpose of book. if she would have used the same to highlight how bias persists (not to identify male victims...but to highlight males do end up as victims in these cases and that example helps them to see how the same happens majority of time for females...but i wonder if its excluded because author is blind to it). its multiple instances like this, where there is no sign of care qualifications that demands skepticism. if it supports authors argument, its lapped up with a customary clause here and there that , "its not clear, but we know the truth". (that is the red flag. when we dont have a study definitely proving something, why claim that its obvious). When its against your argument, then you spend time digging deeper, highlighting the limits of a study.

in the end, there is some confusion on whether or not gender is a social construct or the deeper biological differences do add up to specific advantages or disadvantages in the context of a particular occupation or profession. Do they or do they not? author argues they do, when it favors highlighting gender discrimination (medical field, urinals, even leadership, physical activity related jobs), and they do not, when it doesnt. (leadership again,all jobs irrespective of task at hand ). Seems like the cart if put before horse. This is a going to be a murky problem....we might end up finding some differences that may favor one gender over another for a particular profession...nannies are good example. Do working mothers, through motherhood are at an advantage of gaining trust, dealing with the task better? if yes, is it okay to allow their monopoly in that profession?
that would be the same in military. Does men who are , so far, linked to aggressive acts, stronger built etc be allowed to monopolize army jobs? there are going to many such grey areas and the answers might change with more research. But such nuances are not addressed with care. if a military vest (even for economies of scale reasons) are not manufactured for women, then its a gender bias. In one sense , it is,...if there is a way to take advantage of female or other gender inclusion in a profession, it should...but this need not be looked at a discrimination when the gender itself plays to the disadvantage. same goes for child care. Go to any day care and all you see is females. Does that need to be modified? may be so, but if research shows the biology of men itself limits the inclusion of men in that profession..what then?

With these caveats in mind, i still consider this as a good collation of shapes and forms a gender discrimination takes and for that its worth reading.

PS : listen at 0.9X ... 1X seems to be too fast.

Amazing

Amazing , infuriating, a must read . Really a great book that I wish all men and women would read.

Read and speak up for yourself.

Excellent! Required reading for all humanity. Data driven insights to the lack of data pertaining to women and their role in the world.

A Compelling Dissertation

This is not a novel for the light of heart. It's long and reads like a research paper and best listened to. While you may feel like you need to take a break after each 1hr long chapter it's worth it to read about all the stories we don't see on mainstream media and it'll make you
passionate about all the injustices of living in a man's world.

An 18 Year Old Woman

This book is most insightful and eye opening in understanding the true inequality women face. I was blind to it, and believed I had a fair shot at life in comparison to a man. I was wrong. This book has inspired many ways I can help to demolish this gender inequality, and I am ready to embark on them. I highly recommend this for young women and men in understanding how to change the world for the better.

This book should be a mandatory reading

Despite the fact that the author complains about the iPhone and a construction brick size not fitting in woman hands, which for me sounds very exaggerated, 90% of the book is mind blowing. Good!

Absolute must read!

Absolutely loved this book! It's invaluable information and insight into the global impact of only designing for men and leaving out 50% of the population.

Data driven, lots of stats, broad number of topics

If you are an engineer, scientist, lawmaker, or otherwise involved in making policies or systems that involve a lot of people, you need good data to make decisions with.

Invisible women shows the way women have been historically excluded from data, planning, and policy making, as well as the benefits that arise when data about women is included.

I highly recommend this book as it includes lots, and lots of statistics and data about women and gender bias. This bias leaves us a lot less productive for society, including men, as a whole, and hurts women especially.

Definitely worth the read!

this should be required reading! she covers a really important topic in a very engaging way. loved this book!