Feminists have been calling technology sexist for years — complaining, for example, that Siri, the helpful servant robot voice, is a woman, and that modern phone screens are too big for women’s hands.
In a new book, Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, activist Caroline Criado Perez attempts to further expose this systemic sexism plaguing the world.
One of these pressing issues, a true detriment to “women’s hand and arm health,” is the size of the smartphone.
Perez tells the story of a female researcher who was unable to snap photos of a protest, of course, because she couldn’t one-hand her Google Nexus. Phones are built for larger male hands, she argues, and the results keep women from doing their jobs and reaching their full hand and arm health potential.
The truth is that “one size fits all” doesn’t really fit anyone, and if you want a smaller phone, they do exist. Yes, smartphones are growing to appear more like tablets than telephones. But that doesn’t mean innovators are willfully ignoring their female, or small-handed male, consumers.
Companies do not consciously ignore women in sizing, of course they choose sizes with the aim of selling as many phones as possible.
They may not be doing a great job of it. And plenty of small-handed men may wish iPhones would stop turning into iPads, too. There’s no evidence that any of this has to do with sexism, but then, some feminists find that idea far too much to grasp.
