Ye Olde Natural Philosophy Discussion Group
Reviews and comments on
Caroline Criado Perez: Invisible Women: Data Bias
in a World Designed by Men [2019]
[Notes from Vicki (email of 3/29/20).]
[The average rating for our group, on a scale of 0-10, was: 7.83]
Vicki:
The content was important and eye opening, but wished for more clear solutions other than include
more women, because that feels like a catch-22, we need to include more women to include more
women. Appreciated that she took a broader perspective than just looking at the situation of
women in developed nations, and the section on medical care in particular was infuriating. Did a
good job of using statistics that do exist to highlight what data is not being collected. It’s
not a perfect book but it should be read. Rating: 8
Barbara:
Good book, admits that women are physically weaker but minds are equal. Didn’t like reading about
the terrible bathroom situation, but well written and easy to read. Rating: 7
Jack [John]:
Never realized default language is male. Also hadn’t thought about unpaid work and simple things
like how we use snow plows. More familiar with the things brought up about the workplace. Was
surprised about the management piece. Good food for thought. Still reading it, but overall
surprised about the statistics. Rating: 8
Kevin:
Skipped around because it felt a little preachy at points. Felt like the discussion of emoji
being still male dominated was interesting. Was especially interesting to read about GDP and how
unpaid labor isn’t tracked there. Just never thought about it before now. Liked the book and
what she had to say, and it gets better after the language section. Rating: 7
Ron:
Brought up things that I knew about but didn’t have at the forefront. It was repetitive, but the
repeition was necessary to get things through. A lot of it was relatable to the handicapped as
well. Well researched, well written. Surprising that we don’t pay attention to the view of all
of humanity. Rating: 8
Kirby:
Had a different perspective. The solution is to bring more women in. Small things bugged him
throughout the book—sometimes it felt like she had a chip on her shoulder. Had some issue with
the idea of propositioning and it being a double standard—women are allowed to proposition men
but not vice-versa. Good at what it says, muddled in how she says it. Despite stylistic problems,
liked it better than everyone else and gave it a 9.
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