The Sex Factor: How Women Made The West Rich by Victoria Bateman

The Blurb On The Back:

Why did the West become so rich? Why is inequality rising? How ‘free’ should markets be? And what does sex have to do with it?

In this passionate and skilfully argued book, leading feminist Victoria Bateman shows how we can only understand the burning economic issues of our time if we put sex and gender - ‘the sex factor’ - at the heart of the picture. Spanning the globe and drawing on thousands of years of history, Bateman tells a bold story about how the status and freedom of women are central to our prosperity. Genuine female empowerment requires us not only to recognise the liberating potential of markets and smart government policies but also to challenge the double-standard of many modern feminists when they celebrate the brain while denigrating the body.

This iconoclastic book is a devastating expose of what we have lost by ignoring ‘the sex factor’ and of how reversing this neglect can drive the smart economic policies we need today.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Victoria Bateman is a fellow and lecturer in economics at Cambridge University and campaigns against the marginalisation of women’s bodies in public life. This book, which makes some interesting points but is too dependent on sweeping assertions and broad generalisations, she argues that economics is gender biased and fails to consider both how women are important for economic growth and how real human behaviour impacts on economic activity.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.