Summary

In "Invisible Women," Caroline Criado Perez exposes the pervasive gender data gap and its far-reaching consequences for women. From daily life to the workplace, design, healthcare, and public life, the book reveals how a world designed around male data systematically disadvantages women. The book begins by highlighting how women are often overlooked in various aspects of daily life, from snow-clearing schedules that prioritize roads used by cars over sidewalks used by pedestrians, many of whom are women, to public toilets with equal floor space for men and women despite women taking longer to use facilities. This gender data gap extends to the workplace, where women's unpaid care burden and occupational health risks are often ignored. The book also explores how design biases impact women, from ill-fitting PPE and car safety features that don't account for female anatomy to smartphones and voice recognition technology that are designed for male hands and voices. In healthcare, the book exposes the gender bias in medical research and diagnosis, leading to misdiagnosis and inadequate treatment for women. Criado Perez also delves into public life, examining how the underrepresentation of women in politics, economics, and disaster relief efforts contributes to the gender data gap. She emphasizes the importance of collecting and using sex-disaggregated data to create more equitable policies and practices. Throughout the book, Criado Perez argues that the gender data gap is not just a matter of fairness but also an economic issue. She highlights how closing the gap can lead to increased productivity, economic growth, and improved public health outcomes. The book concludes with a call to action, urging for greater female representation in all spheres of life to ensure that women are no longer invisible in data and design.