Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men.

This book is for all the naysayers.

Photo by Zalfa Imani on Unsplash

Women are about 50% world’s population, and yet Politics, Economy, Business, Education, and Science have a disparity in representation, and it is excessively lopsided in favor of Men. Considering this, one of my New Year’s resolutions was to read books only written by Women, ANY WOMEN. I felt I needed to be well-equipped to become a feminist. I needed to listen more to women who knew what it is to be a woman — women in public spaces, women who do not have privacy, women who have laughed, leered, women who are constantly under scrutiny both online and offline, women who are continually being ridiculed and questioned when they share their stories of being assaulted or abused in public spaces. I needed to know as much as possible.

Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men is a book about women who have been overlooked for generations. This claim is further established by data, including information about the women’s population, their numbers in various industries, STEM fields, and Politics, among others. To summarize, this is your book recommendation if they are a feminist. This is your book recommendation if they are on the fence. This should also be your book recommendation if the person is a misogynist. If any piece of literature can change his mind, it has to be this.

Here is what I learned from this book:

Unpaid work:

If only Unpaid and domestic work could be part of GDP, economists wondered aloud whether unpaid work should be included in Gross Domestic Product. However, they said no since it does not involve pay, and it is also hard to quantify. Had it been recognized, it would have provided validation for many women who spend time on childcare, elderly care, cooking, cleaning, and other household tasks. Generally, it is always presumed without any doubt whatsoever that this work should be done by women in the house.

Women worldwide do the vast majority of the world’s unpaid care work, performing nearly 2.5 times (75% of all unpaid work) more unpaid care and domestic work than men. This burden keeps 708 million women out of the labour force and represents a significant portion of global GDP. This ostracization of women on the pretext of their gender, tradition, and patriarchy affects GDP numbers globally between 15% and over 50%. Data from 64 countries representing two-thirds of the world’s working-age population show that 16.4 billion hours per day are spent in unpaid care work — the equivalent of 2 billion people working eight hours per day with no remuneration. Were such services to be valued based on an hourly minimum wage, they would amount to 9 per cent of global GDP or US$11 trillion.) (purchasing power parity in 2011)

This results in women participating in a reduced labour force. The hours spent on unpaid care take up the time that could have been spent on education, leisure, and mental health. When you are not paid for your work, it also increases the responsibilities and dependence on the men. You are far more likely to be poor than a paid woman.

Photo by Emma Fabbri on Unsplash

Women leaders make better leaders:

Men were responsible for 694 acts of aggression and 86 wars, while women were responsible for just 13 acts of aggression and only one war (Indira Gandhi). Countries with a higher proportion of women in political offices tend to pass more laws that enhance women’s economic rights and opportunities, which can lead to increased female labour force participation and economic growth, according to new research conducted for Representation Matters. According to the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law project, full female workforce participation could increase global GDP by nearly 20% and help reduce poverty. As of today, no country led by a woman is currently engaged in an active war.

Women’s rights are Human Rights:

Women enjoy fewer legal rights than men, are less than two-thirds as likely as men to participate in the labor force, and earn 80% of what men do. The human rights of women are the inherent rights and freedoms that all women and girls are entitled to, including the right to live free from violence and discrimination, to have bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom, to access education, to own property, and to receive equal pay for equal work.