The undoing of Roe v Wade, a 1973 United States court ruling that had created a constitutional right to abortion, has sent shockwaves around the western world – if it could happen there, it could happen anywhere that claims to be a democracy.
n the spirit of sisterhood – and of men lending their vital support, since equality benefits everyone – here are three quality series that look at gender inequities with a measured, gimlet-eye.
Visible Women
Apple, Spotify; tortoisemedia.com
Caroline Criado-Perez did painstaking research for her groundbreaking 2019 book, Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, and many of the results were stark: women are 50pc more likely to be misdiagnosed with a heart attack, 17pc more likely to die in a car crash and 47pc more likely to be seriously injured (rendering crash test dummies useful only to 50th percentile males).
From pain medication to urban planning to office air-conditioning, it’s men who have long been the default user in clinical studies, therefore women have drawn the short straw across healthcare, the workplace and education. Criado-Perez continues in her quest for cold hard facts – and viable solutions – in Visible Women. At the time of writing she’s only four episodes in, but ill-fitting PPE during the pandemic and the importance of feeding good, ie disaggregated, data into AI algorithms, have been articulately and wittily investigated so far.
28ish Days Later
Apple, BBC Sounds, Spotify
The conversation around periods has changed dramatically lately, with sanitary product makers no longer infantilising us with ‘blue liquid’ demonstrations. But there’s still a long way to go to remove the misinformation and stigma of menstruation.
BBC Sounds’ 28ish Days Later, hosted by India Rakusen, is presented as 28 episodes over 28 days to bust common myths, the role of hormones, and explore how the female reproductive system has been documented, fetishised and feared through the ages. When many American women are having second thoughts about using period-tracking apps, it’s more vital than ever to scrutinise those monthly cycles.
Hot Money: Who Rules Porn?
Apple, Spotify; pushkin.fm
Video of the Day
Sex work takes advantage of among the most vulnerable. Financial Times journalists Patricia Nilsson and Alex Barker trace how free online porn sites line the pockets of anonymous tech bros at the expense of its performers. Hot Money: Who Rules Porn? is eye-opening reportage spotlighting the (male) billionaires and bankers who enjoy the fruits of the sex trade without ever undoing a button.