In which: International Women’s Day

Today I lectured my Sixth Form for an hour on the inequality of data in society based on Caroline Criado Perez’s book Invisible Women and the film On the Basis of Sex about Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

I started with the ridiculous situation that Apple sell the majority of their phones to women but that the design of the new phones tend to be too big for women’s hands. We worked through why offices are 5 degrees too cold for women. Then we looked at how the emergency services are put in lethal danger because PPE is not designed for women’s biology (stab vests are not designed for breasts). Finally that women are 47% more likely to be seriously injured in a car accident and 17% more likely to die because car manufacturers only test on male test dummies- who are 5’10.

The kids were amazing and I got spontaneous and vehement applause because they got that gender equality is good for all people not just women.