Invisible Women - What’s that got to do with my knob?

Time and time again we see that the woman killed have been failed – that the warning signs were missed, they were not believed, in essence that their murders could have been prevented. I hear the same statement I have heard too many times to count – ‘Lessons will be learned’ and my heart sinks. I cry WHEN? We women are more likely to be raped, beaten and/or murdered by men we know than by a stranger – one in three of us will experience domestic violence and so just as the dead man walking phrase means someone who is about to die – we are all dead women walking – because until those lessons are learned and women’s lives valued statistically we will be joining this too long list. We walk in protest that our sisters are dying at the hands of men and in memory of the women killed.

“We all know the long-term risks of overindulgence with food when it comes to obesity, Type II diabetes, and cardiovascular disease,” says lead researcher Aaron Hengist, a Ph.D. student at the University of Bath. “Our findings show that the body actually copes remarkably well when faced with a massive and sudden calorie excess.” Blood sugar levels stayed steady, while insulin levels doubled (to control the blood sugar levels). Blood lipids (triglycerides and fatty acids) were only slightly higher. Other research has shown that in moderate eating, blood lipids rise in proportion to the amount eaten, indicating that there may be a bodily “cap” that kicks in when too much fat is consumed.

(This research was conducted on men ages 22-37.)

Since early on in our history, women of our species gave birth to relatively large-brained offspring with considerable cognitive potential compared to that of other animals. Key to this development is the consumption of specific foods, which contain brain-selective nutrients such as omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and trace elements including iron, iodine, copper, selenium, and zinc. Such nutrients are important for all peoples past and present. Ethnohistorical and nutritional evidence shows that edible plants and small animals, most often gathered by women, represent an abundant and accessible source of “brain foods.” This is in contrast to the “man the hunter” hypothesis where big-game hunting and meat-eating are seen as prime movers in the development of biological and behavioral traits that distinguish humans from other primates.

For many years US government data has shown that women are 73% more at risk of injury and 17% more at risk of dying in an accident than men. Regulations only require cars pass safety tests that use a male crash test dummy in the driver’s seat. Car makers promote their 5 star safety ratings, but fail to say these ratings apply to the average man, not the average women. It is time to make car safety equitable for all occupants. The brilliant feminist campaigner Caroline Criado Perez (author of Invisible Women) will talk with Chris O'Connor, renowned crash safety technology expert, and ex US Congresswoman Susan Molinari, moderated by Kris van Cleave, CBS Transportation correspondent, about how to change the regulations that favor men, and leave 1,352 women dead and 51,071 permanently injured each year because of inequity in car safety in the US alone.

Despite representing half of the population, women are not at the table when it comes to designing products for their own experience. The industrial design industry is overwhelmingly male which results in decades of products designed without women in mind. Perhaps no one knows this better than the author of “Invisible Women,” Caroline Criado Perez.