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Our world was not built for women. Someone could probably write a book about this, but here are a few examples I've been thinking about recently: 1/
Cars were not built for women. For a long time, test dummies were based on the average male body, which meant female drivers had 47% higher chances of serious injury than their male counterparts. Even now, the female dummy is usually just a smaller male dummy, but that doesn't 2/
account for differences in center of mass, different organ placements, etc. In addition, protective equipment doesn't account for seating differences (e.g. women typically sit closer to the wheel because of shorter legs). 3/
In one EU regulatory test, a female dummy is required, but it's only ever tested in the passenger seat. 4/
PPE was not built for women. Coats, goggles, and boots that are too large for female bodies are more than just an annoyance: loose gear means tripping in labs with dangerous materials and risking clothing getting caught in moving machinery. 5/
Smartphones were not built for women. As screens get bigger and bigger, they become harder and harder for women to hold with one (on average, smaller than male) hand. Until 2016, Siri sent abortion seekers to adoption centers instead (but it could find Viagra suppliers!) 6/
Military equipment was not built for women. In 2016, the US military began recruiting women for previously male-only combat roles, but most armor was still designed for men. Women had to remove protective panels on armor to not crush their chests, fit around their hips, etc 7/
Drug dosages have historically been based on clinical trials conducted on men, because scientists considered female hormones too complicated to study. As a result, women experience adverse drug reactions 2x as often as men (the same dose --> higher blood concentration) 8/
Men's and women's bathrooms are given equal floor space despite different needs. Women take up to 2.3x as long as men to use the bathroom (think periods, bringing children or elderly family with them), leading to much longer waiting lines 9/
Medical information focuses on male symptoms, which means that women—and more importantly, doctors—often miss the early signs of heart attack and other diseases. It doesn't help that women are more likely to have their pain reports discounted as "emotional" or "hysterical" 10/
Female voices are less likely to be accurately processed by AI, because they're trained on male-biased data. 11/
Glass floors or grated floors in buildings don't take into account that some people (usually women) may walk in dresses or heels. 12/
Men are 23% more likely than women to survive when requiring CPR in public. CPR training is always done on male torsos, and as a result, data indicates people are less comfortable delivering CPR to a woman because they're uncomfortable touching the chest. 13/
Men and women suffer heart disease at equal rates, but artificial hearts overwhelmingly are too large to properly fit women, leading to higher rates of failure and death. 14/
The standard office temperature (calculated in the 1950s based on the metabolic rate of an average man) is comfortable for men but too cold for women. It's hard to be productive when you're not comfortable first. 15/
And the list goes on, but I'm going to bed. The sad part about all of this is that the male body has always been considered the default: there's always this excuse that "female bodies are too complicated," but instead of doing more research, we just ignore 50% of people. 16/
That's why we need more diverse teams. Inclusive design necessitates diverse designers, engineers, scientists, builders, and testers. There is no one standard human. This thread was about gender disparities, but the same holds for race and other factors. 17/
I also want to add that gender and sex are complex constructions, but I've used "men" and "women" here according to how data has historically been collected. 18/
Anyway, go forth and make this world a little more livable for someone who's not like you. Good night! /fin
A lot more people have seen this thread than expected 
Thank you to everyone who shared their personal experiences and recommended an excellent book written by @CCriadoPerez that actually does talk all about this topic!
Thank you to everyone who shared their personal experiences and recommended an excellent book written by @CCriadoPerez that actually does talk all about this topic!
While you’re here, some friends and I have been building an initiative @wavelearn to help students during the pandemic. If you’ve got a few moments, we’d really appreciate if you could check out http://wavelf.org and share our free resources with a student who needs them.
To clarify some confusion, I first learned of the information in this thread through a talk I attended in high school. Gender equality is something close to my heart, and I wanted to share these depressing facts with friends, not expecting so many others to come upon the thread.
I would never want to claim credit for doing the original research on these issues, and was excited when others pointed out the brilliant book Invisible Women written by Caroline Criado-Perez which explores this topic in great detail.
One of the effects of great research is that it brings important facts into mainstream discussion. And that means I was lucky to learn about this topic (now clear to me that the talk must have been based off her work) in person even without having heard of the book before.
That said, this is a definitely a reminder to myself to do more research on sources before passing along things I hear. It was an honest but careless mistake, and I apologize for presenting the data here without citation at the top.
That said, I *am* very excited to actually order the book and engage with the material more deeply, and I encourage anyone else frustrated about the topic to read it! Grateful to @CCriadoPerez for making these issues more accessible to all.
