Invisible Women: My Favorite Non-Fiction Book for June

Some non-fiction books are educational, thought-provoking, surprising, or eye-opening. Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men was all of that for me.

Being a woman and having lived several decades, this research-heavy book was a powerful reminder of how challenging things can be for women, even in the simplest of ways, when their needs are not included in the research or design process.

Grounded in international research from around the world including hundreds of United States and United Kingdom studies, the author, Caroline Criado Perez, raises awareness that women’s needs are typically excluded when a “one-size fits all” approach is a “designed to fit men” approach. That becomes especially troublesome in medicine where “women have largely been excluded from studies and textbooks, leaving them chronically misunderstood, mistreated, and misdiagnosed.”

The book sheds light on progress made and progress needed. But more importantly, it astutely raises awareness that having typical research be solely about men’s needs, issues, or genes, impacts the well-being of the other fifty percent of the planet who aren’t men. For those of us who are women or who care about them, the case is well made by the author the current approach needs changing.

If you like thoughtful, well researched, non-fiction books that give one pause, I recommend you read Invisible Women.