Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - Usynlige kvinner. Hvorfor vi lever i en verden designet for menn

This is definitely a great book. The author captures so many of the areas of the female experience that are frustrating and unfair and draws back to vail, showing the why behind these many inequalities and inconveniences.
My only bone to pick with this book is that it's not entirely clear who the target is. As a woman, it is almost cathartic to read about your experience and have your righteous anger fueled. However, the author often uses the "the gender data gap" seemingly as a synonym for patriarchy. If this book was meant to inform men and the wider world, I think it fails as a call to action. Pinning so many things on "the gender data gap" erases the personal responsibility that needs to be taken by men. It does make the book more palatable, but I think it misses out on an important piece in improving women's lives. We need men as individuals to listen to women, to take responsibility, and work on addressing their own biases. Otherwise the work of closing the gender data gap will be just more labour for women.

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cathannahs's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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jessisangle's review against another edition

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challenging informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

Everyone should read this.

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catherinedsharp's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

4.0

Very interesting text that brought up lots of point with stats to back them up.

I had 2 main gripes. Firstly it was very binary. I would have liked to see some LGBTQIA*+ representation if possible although I get that it may not fit into the premise of the book. Secondly, it felt, tonally, quite man hating which I found quite difficult.

Overall very informative but not sure if I would read again because of the tone.

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ashwaar's review against another edition

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challenging informative medium-paced

4.25

I'm continuing my trend of reading feminist non-fiction, and I recently read Invisible Women and found it incredibly engaging and interesting. I highly recommend this book to everyone, as the data it highlights impacts all of us.

Pérez begins this book by discussing the historical acceptance of the male form as default, which I found fascinating. She discusses Ancient Greek philosophers describing the female body as a perversion of the male and goes on to discuss women's exclusion in everything from medical trials to public transport to crash test dummies.

This book is also incredibly frustrating because there's no one to blame for these failures. The basis of these gender biases are so deeply entrenched in our everyday thinking we don't even stop to question them. We don't stop to think why the women's bathroom always has a line or why medical textbooks predominantly contain diagrams of the male body.

Some of these biases or gender data gaps seem like nothing more than inconveniences, something women just have to deal with in a world built for men. However, these inconveniences can build up and, in some cases, are outright killing women. For example, using car crash dummies based on the average male body exclude women from these safety tests. Or not factoring women in medical research trials because their fluctuating hormones make them too much of an anomaly.

This book is justifiably angry at the gender data gap, and as a reader, you will be as well. I learnt so much from this book, and I feel like I need everyone else to read it as well. It is very data-heavy throughout, and if you have a physical copy, I recommend highlighting some statistics. If you're debating with someone who doesn't think the gender data gap exists, point them to this book, as it's essential reading.

Read more on Wordpress at Bookmarked by Ash: https://book990337086.wordpress.com/

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evnfig's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

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alyssa_s10's review against another edition

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challenging informative medium-paced

4.5

Really good at opening one's eyes to systematic sexism. A must read for any researchers.

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