Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez is an eye-opening book that shows how women are often overlooked in our everyday world. The book shows how these gaps in data impact women’s lives in ways that are often invisible. Did you know that crash test dummies are typically modeled after the average male body, which means that women are at higher risk of injury in car accidents? Or that in healthcare, many medical studies are mostly done on men, so medications that work well for men may not be as effective for women or could even cause harm. Women also face delays in emergency rooms because doctors are less familiar with how heart attacks appear in women, which can be different from how they show up in men. Perez writes in a way that’s easy to follow, mixing facts with real stories and shows how widespread the problem is.
Invisible Women is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand why it’s crucial to include women in the data that shapes our world.