SCPL Online NonFiction Book Club discussion

Part 1 of Invisible Women focuses on how the gender data gap and data bias impact women in their day-to-day lives.

Criado Perez illustrates this through examples such as "sexist snow-clearing" in Sweden, male-biased design of toilets in public spaces, a concerning lack of safe toilets in various parts of the world, and of course, the fear women often feel just existing in public spaces and using services such as public transit.

Some of the things I found most surprising in this section were the harsh realities of the horrific violence women face while just trying to go about their daily lives in places like India, and the lack of reporting or even proper reporting procedures for sexual assault on public transit in places like Britain and the US.

What aspects of this section did you find most surprising? Were you surprised to read that women are often twice as likely to be scared than men in public spaces?

If you are a woman, have you found any specific things in your daily life to be more difficult or more dangerous simply because you are a woman? Have you experienced behaviour like catcalling? Or, on the flipside, do you think these examples are over-dramatizing an issue that's not really as bad or concerning as the author is suggesting?

I was angry that women can not go to the bathroom without being stalked, and raped. Generally I do not feel comfortable when alone with a man in a deserted place. While the chance of something happening is unlikely, it is still there.

When I was young I worked as a cashier in a Convenience store. A man came in while I was working alone, and started threatening me because he thought I was his wife. He was very drunk at the time. Luckily a family friend came into the store. He talked the man out of the store.

Now I do not going hiking alone, or walking in certain areas by myself. I remain vigilant if a gruop of rowdy men are nearby. This are things that I really do not think about, just automatically do now. Since reading this book it makes me realize how small of a life that is.

Hi Anastasia. There were many parts of this book that left me feeling angry - the tales of horror women face just trying to use a toilet was a perfect example.

Thank you for sharing your experience. That sounds like an absolutely terrifying experience and I'm so relieved to hear that someone came to your aid. However, I imagine many years later the memory is still a haunting one and for that, I'm so sorry.

Since I was a teenager, I've been subjected to catcalls regularly, but I've had a few really scary experiences. How sad is it when catcalls are considered "no big deal"?

In my early 20s, when walking down the street with a friend at night, a group of men threw beer bottles at us from their car. Thankfully, we were not hit. I've had men follow me on foot, and even (sadly, multiple times) follow and yell things while I'm driving my car on the highway. A few years back, a man jumped out at me from an alleyway while I was walking to my car after work and shouted "WHORE" in my face and then laughed when I screamed.

When you said "it makes me realize how small of a life that is", it really resonated with me. Even in North America, where things are considerably safer than they are for women than in places like India, we still automatically remove ourselves from situations that inspire fear. Even if we still participate in certain activities (ie. hiking or running alone), can we fully enjoy them when we are in a state of fear, hyper-vigilant in case something becomes dangerous? I know not all women feel this way - many have told me that they do not feel this fear because nothing bad has ever happened to them. But do I envy them or worry for them?

This conversation reminds me of a quote, often attributed to Margaret Atwood: "Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them".

In grad school, I remember hearing that someone was creating a map app that would point out areas for women to avoid (such as alleyways, dimly lit streets, secluded pathways, etc.) and help them mark a safer route. I remember thinking how unfair it was that women should be burdened with this task, that we walk around in a constant state of fear and must remain ever vigilant. Although the intention was to keep women safe, the message being delivered is that we need to change our behaviours and avoid dangerous situations. We have been conditioned to think that this is normal.

Thank you for your comment Jen. I was curious about these apps, and was a bit surprised to learn that there are actually quite a few options out there now: https://bit.ly/3bw5pI6 . In a way, I'm not surprised I hadn't heard about them - reading Chapter 9 of Invisible Women made it clear that women's needs are often overlooked in tech design and innovation.

But regardless, your point harkens back to a frustrating idea that keeps cropping up again and again throughout the book - that somehow the problem that needs solving is women themselves rather than the people, products, and environment around us. While we should definitely do our best to put our own safety first, why is the onus on us rather than the people infringing on our safety? To me, it feels a bit like asking a woman what she was wearing.

In reading about these safety apps, it also brought up some further questions. Could safety apps meant to help women encourage racial bias? If it's hard enough to get support for women in tech innovations, how can we ensure diversity as well?