INVISIBLE WOMEN

Exploring Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
by Caroline Criado Perez

MINI REVIEW

Invisible Women delivers on the promise of its title and will open your eyes to the millions of tiny (and sometimes enormous) ways in which women are left out of the functional design of our world today. It is a very statistics-heavy book and the ultimate conclusion is right there in the title, but the details are shocking and myriad. Perez is also impressive in the way she is able to trace certain inequities back to the gender data gap, sometimes things one might never in a million years suspect to be connected.  For example, snowplow schedules. In most cities the major roads are cleared first, followed by smaller streets, then pedestrian walkways. But cars (most often driven by men to their workplace) can get through snow much more easily than pedestrians (often women on variable routes, often pushing strollers, or carrying groceries). When one city changed the order they plowed in wintertime, accidents went down a significant amount, in the end saving the city money and helping everyone be more efficient. If this anecdote catches your interest, then I would highly recommend this thoughtful and surprising book. (Lily)