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ALL THE STARS !!!!!

This is one of the most important books I've read in a long time.

I don't have the words to express how important this book is. I was considering whether I should read this, thinking I'm a feminist, I read a lot of stuff on the subject, I kind of know it all. WRONG! It turns out things are much worse than I/we ever imagined.

This book covers so many fields:
- history - how women have been completely erased from history;
- education, work, occupational health and safety;
- architecture
- car safety
- medicine - OMG! Did you know that over 90% of studies and medications are done mostly on male animal/human subjects and don't account for biological differences in women, which result in increased female mortality? Everything from heart attacks diagnosis which is based on male symptoms, which is not how the majority of women present; statins for cholesterol are ineffective for 80% of women but increase their chance of developing diabetes which then is a much higher risk for women developing heart problems. The examples are multiple. From misdiagnosis, and "my favourite" dismissal of women's symptoms, everything is stacked against us.

It's not all intentional and mean spirited, it's just that men, even the good ones, always think of the male as the default. This is yet another reason why REPRESENTATION is important.

The meritocracy is a myth, perpetrated by white cis males because it has served and still serves them well.

Women do anywhere from two to ten times more unpaid care work, which results in worse labor outcomes, and all the consequences that come with that - no career advancements, less money, jobs that are low paid, women taking on jobs they're overqualified for etc, . Gendered poverty is a real thing. I don't know about the situation in other countries, but in Australia, older women (50+) have been the fastest-growing group of homeless people in recent years. It makes my blood boil!

Really, just read this book.

I plan on banging on about this book and because I'm annoying like that, I'm going to question and challenge most things.

We need a revolution, we need to appreciate and reward women for all the unpaid house/care work without which the society wouldn't function. We need to question and challenge the status quo in research, medicine, arts, academia, e v e r y t h i n g everywhere.

I often fantasise about organising or participating in a National Women's strike, as they had in Iceland in 1975. Anyone else?

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