Woman lists 10 examples explaining why this world is being 'built for cis men'

When you have men dominating key positions in all walks of life, you end up creating and designing a world that caters to men. TikTok user Allie cited many examples to show real-life examples that highlighted the discrimination sexual and gender minorities face because of cis-men calling the shots. Allie showed how women are discriminated against in all walks of life including going to the bathroom, enduring a cold office space to being susceptible to more injuries. Allie often posts videos raising awareness on discrimination against sexual and gender minorities. Allie has posted three videos highlighting how "the world is built for cis men." She stood in front of a green screen before highlighting various news stories exposing discrimination.   

1. Longer restroom queues for women

As any woman would tell you, the queues outside women's restrooms are always long because they do not have enough stalls. Even if the space allotted is equal, the number of people who can relieve themselves is higher in the men's bathroom as opposed to the women's bathroom and nothing's ever done about it. Not to mention that women take on the roles of caregivers, meaning many are often assisting children or the elderly as well. 

2. Women can't reach shelves in their own home

Upper shelves in the kitchen are almost always designed taking into account men's average height and most women are unable to access things kept on top shelves. 

3. NASA canceled all-women spacewalk because they didn't have the right spacesuit size

Nasa canceled their all-women spacewalk because they didn't have spacesuits in the right size. It's embarrassing that one of the largest space agencies, NASA, with a budget of $21.5 billion (in 2019) has to cancel one of its programs because it couldn't make spacesuits that fit women. 

4. Women are more likely to be injured in a car crash

Car crash simulation dummies used to design car safety were built with the average man in mind. According to a 2019 study from the University of Virginia, the odds of a woman being seriously injured in a frontal crash are 73% greater than for a man, reported Forbes. When a woman is involved in a car crash, she is 47% more likely to be seriously injured, and 17% more likely to die, reported The Guardian.

5. Why women find offices colder

The average man's metabolic resting rate was used in the 1960s to determine the standard office temperature. Recently, a Dutch study found that the metabolic rate of young adult women performing light office work is significantly lower than that of men doing the same activity. This meant that the initial formula overestimated women's metabolic rate by at least 35%. This has resulted in current offices being on average five degrees too cold for women.

6. Even phones are designed for the average man

The average smartphone size, 5.5 inches, fits comfortably into the hands of the average man whereas, an average woman's hand cannot hold the phone as comfortably in one hand. The same was applicable to Apple, whose iPhone, a study showed, was most likely to be owned by women than men. According to Bored Panda, speech-recognition software is 70% more likely to accurately recognize men's voices. It was also found that Siri could find prostitutes and Viagra suppliers, but not abortion providers. Siri could help you if you’d had a heart attack, but if you told her you’d been raped, reported The Guardian.

7. Women forced to suffer the side effects of the pill

Women taking birth control pills has been normalized, and so has all the side effects that come with it, but it never struck anyone to make birth control for men. It appears the pharmaceutical companies don't believe there is a market for men's birth control pills simply because men don't want any side effects, an option not given to women, who are burdened with the responsibility of birth control. "The reasons that I don't fully understand but I suspect are more down to business than science," said Allan Pacey, professor of andrology, at the University of Sheffield. 

8. The N95 mask is designed for men

A recent study revealed that an N95 mask doesn't fit the face of women as well as it does men. This also appears to be the case with Asian people. The study published in the journal Anaesthesia found that 95 percent of men passed fit tests on their masks, compared to 85 percent of women. Similarly, it fits well on 90% of Caucasians.

9. Household tools are designed for men

Household tools are designed for the hands of the average man, making it difficult for women to do use them. Even a bag of cement or a brick is designed keeping in mind the average man. “I’ve got photographs of my [adult] daughter holding a brick. She can’t get her hand around it. But [her husband] Danny’s hand fits perfectly comfortably. Why does a brick have to be that size?” asks Wendy Davis, ex-director of the Women’s Design Service in the UK, reported The Guardian.

10. CPR dummies are based on men

A study by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 2017 showed that men's odds of survival were 23% higher than women's when it came to performing CPR in public. People were less comfortable delivering CPR to a woman because it requires touching their chest. CPR demonstrations always involved a man's torso, so people are unsure of the procedure when it comes to women, reported BBC News.