Caroline Criado-Perez new book on sexism and data

[ScotchBonny]

I thought people might be interested in an interview with Caroline Criado-Perez in today’s Sunday Times so have put a share token below.

She is about to bring about a book which illustrates discrimination against women by virtue of data. Really interesting and blood boiling stuff. I haven’t pasted the interview in full as I think that’s not allowed, but below are some of the statistics she researched.

Share token:
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/interview-caroline-criado-perez-on-the-shockingly-sexist-data-that-shapes-our-lives-jgvt5k3bm?shareToken=df2f27714906d33915a508d4c104ac62

clicky link

SEXISM IN NUMBERS

70% The increased likelihood of Google Home recognising male voices over female
17% of extras in movie crowd scenes are female
50% The increased risk of women being misdiagnosed following a heart attack
24% of people “heard, read about or seen in newspapers, on TV and radio news” are female
47% The increased risk of women being seriously injured in a car crash, because seatbelts and airbags are designed for men
28% The proportion of speaking roles that went to female characters in family films between 1990 and 2005
John There are more statues of men called John in the UK than there are of non-royal women
100% How much more time male actors spend on screen than females do in films
3.3% of top video games feature female protagonists, although equal numbers of men and women play them
90% of published drug studies involved male-only animal testing
50% The increased risk of female pianists suffering pain and injury, because of the keyboard design
11% of participants in studies to find a cure for HIV are female
70% The increased likelihood of women having depression, and yet medical studies are mostly done on male animals
“Homemaker” The top occupation for women according to a Google News data set
2 of the test subjects in a 2015 clinical trial of female Viagra were women and the other 23 were men
28% of children draw a woman when asked to sketch a scientist

I read this and was struck by how important it seemed to the journalist that Criado-Perez was unlikable/likeable. It seemed odd in an article about sexism that we needed to have a discussion about an author's likeability. I appreciate that this may have linked in some way to the vile online abuse Criado-Perez has received, but it still galled that a writer's messages about the world in which we live are only publicised in the context of her affability. I feel this distracted somewhat from the messages about sexist data and what this means for women.

I have just finished the book and it is a staggeringly brilliant piece of analysis. And utterly terrifying. The one that got me was drugs: not only are they often not tested on women, they use exclusively male mice and exclusively male cells.

The whole thing is really superb. Read the book!!!! Read the book.

Have I told you to read the book yet?

Ordered. Thanks for the highlights OP. I have been disappointed so far, with some of the examples used to discuss Caroline's book in the media.

Even though I am completely on board with her overall idea, I was worried that the more trivial examples I have heard discussed, such as the size of mobile phone screens, would be a distraction from the theme.

So relieved to see the other examples.

Very interesting. What would male bodies show about female viagara? I have noticed before that drug trials seem to all be for men, at the time when I was willing and healthy enough to take part.

I was thinking of getting this on audible but then I wondered whether actually you'd need to see the graphs and data to understand it properly, what do those who've read it think?

I've just picked mine up from the bookshop and about to read

I have my copy and have just started reading.

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6805511/The-proof-live-mans-world.html

I know I shouldn't be surprised but the comments on that DM article...
Aren't women angry that people, mainly men, create products that don't work well for them? Or that they miss out on effective medicines because they have not been trialled on women, let alone pregnant or breastfeeding women? I don't think they read the article or have the intelligence to understand it?!

I caught the tail end of it on R2 with Jeremy Vine. She was ace - Jeremy tried to make a terrible comparison and she was so beautifully cutting, and also to the ridiculous dismissive men who called in. Fascinating stuff, I'd love to read it now.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0003j90

Also would be interested to know if listening to it on audio would lose anything...

I heard the same interview on the radio and have also read the Times and it really struck me today how funny she was and how warmly she came over. I have the book as well and it is BRILLIANT - the sort of thing I’d like to give to everyone I know...

Caroline was also on R4 this morning, around about 8.50 iirc.

She mentioned several times “women’s bodies are different to men’s and we need separate data” it’s so simple, so important, and so infuriating that it hasn’t been ever thus.
The whole book is yet another example of why the “TWAW” mantra is wrong.

She was brilliant brilliant

So so gawd I can’t explain. BRILLIANT

Really good interview with Jeremy Vine too. Starts about 30 minutes in to the link above.

Just ordered the book on the back of this and hearing her on R4 this morning.

I hope the NASA spacesuit debacle gives it a boost.

I never heard on radio 4 she was amazing on radio 2

A guy phoned in and said he was 20 stone and 6 foot 4 and they don’t make seats for him

Caroline said that he was an outlier. Women are not outliers of men 💪💪

Bought the book just waiting for time to read it. Bought it from a lady wearing a rather awesome boilersuit running an independent bookshop

She was bloody excellent!

I have ordered the book based on her JV slot.

I liked her especially when she protests "No, I haven't finished with [stupid bloke] yet" It was said without aggression and voiced exactly what has to have been going through most listener's minds.

I was thinking of getting this on audible.

MrsJamin Nosquirrels Discovered that Caroline Criado Perez is reading the book herself on audible which is a huge plus for me as I like audio books but don’t always like some of the narrators they choose. You can listen to a 5 minute sample, which I did on the audible website. Am still debating whether to go for book or audio so this post is not so much an answer to your questions, more sharing the dilemma.

Sally Hines (Prof of Bantz and Feels) thinks this book looks great.

She should read it and discover female biology reality for herself!

I liked her especially when she protests "No, I haven't finished with [stupid bloke] yet" It was said without aggression and voiced exactly what has to have been going through most listener's minds.

Yes! That was brilliant.

Thanks nettie. I might go Audible. I 'read' more non-fiction on audio so I reckon I'd live without graphs and tables and she was brilliant on the radio so narrating her own book is a big plus for me.

KatvonfeelzlikeaMAN I love all your names. I wonder what inspired you to change to this one

She was amazing on R2 today. So clear and warm and rational.