Women had no access to leadership positions for a long time and were significantly underrepresented or even fully absent in many fields. Male bias was brightly expressed both in evolutionary theory and language. Throughout history, accomplishments achieved by women were used to hide from the public or attributed to men. In the 21st century, when people are obsessed with data-driven decision-making and data itself, women's absence causes significant concern.

The author of this book, Caroline Criado Perez, uncovers how people forget about women, starting with employment possibilities and medical research and ending with public policy and product design. In addition, Perez highlights the significant consequences it had. Invisible Women gives a persuasive argument in favor of collecting more data about how various groups use products and services. Special attention is also paid to the importance of increasing the representation of women in executive positions.

Giving a great many diverse examples, Caroline Criado Perez proves that the modern world keeps being created for an "average man" — a white male who weighs 155 pounds and is married to an ordinary housewife. Because in society, "average man" is by default considered an "average human," the needs of females are frequently ignored and poorly represented.

Implications of this vary from irritating inconveniences, such as body armor not designed to place breasts, to dangers for life, like an incorrect diagnosis of medical conditions or higher death rates for women in car accidents.

The author claims that females aren't being purposely excluded from research and design. They are just "invisible." The reason is that males are still way more influential in business, government, and culture.