By Alex Tk
One Saturday while I was browsing through the stalks at the Indigo bookstore, I found myself in the Community and Culture section.
What struck me immediately was that there numerous books facing me with the word women in the title. And they were all by feminists.
Although I am not a fan of feminism, there were five titles that were provocative enough that got my curiosity going … so I decided to check them out.
Invidible Women; Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Driado-Perez … This is a danming book which uses statistics to show how products and services have been designed with only men in mind. She also show this bias in government policy, medical research, technology, the workplace, urban planning and the media.
Women Don’t Owe You Pretty by Florence Givens … challenges women to question the norms of female behavior and appearance. She encourages women to break free from outdated gender roles and reject the toxic beauty ideals. I don’t know, asking women to give up their desire to be pretty is rather ambitious considering that the beauty and fashion industry is worth billions.
Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates … is the most disturbing book of the lot. It investigates misogyny on the internet. She paints a darker picture that’s only getting darker. The author not only exposes anti-feminist groups but groups where men are welcome to voice their hatred of women. She claims that these sites are breeding grounds for the radicalization of young men. Alarming to say the least.
LadyParts by Deborah Copeken … is a memoir which is less about misogyny and more about how the author’s body parts have failed her. To make her point she titles some of the chapters those body parts. Uterus is for the time that she had her uterus removed. Heart is for when she had palpitations and Breast is for the time she found a lump in her breast etc … She rails against the health system and how it’s bias against women. A more fitting title for this book would have been ‘How I Survived Despite My Female Body’.
Do It Like a Woman and Change the World by Caroline Criado-Perez … is inspiring not only for women but for anyone who cares to read it. This is a book about women who have the courage to carve out their own path. Among the interviewees are a graffiti artist in London … a farmer in Uganda … an advocate for prostitutes in India and a Greenpeace activist who climbed the Shad – a pyramid-shaped skyscraper in London.
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