Patriarchy Inc.: What We Get Wrong About Gender Equality and Why Men Still Win at Work: the 'excellent and incredibly timely' (Caroline Criado-Perez) follow-up to the award-winning Testosterone Rex

by Cordelia Fine

352 pages, Hardcover

Published March 6, 2025

About the author

Cordelia Fine is a prize winning author and academic. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Scientific American, and Times Literary supplement. Cordelia won the Royal Society Science Book Prize in 2017, and was awarded the 2018 Edinburgh Medal, which honors men and women of science who have made a significant contribution to the understanding and well-being of humanity. In 2023 she was named a 'living legend' by The Australian newspaper.

Cordelia has a PhD in Psychology from University College London and is Professor in the History & Philosophy of Science program at the University of Melbourne.

Photo credit: Peter Casamento

Reviews

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the book is about challenging current attitudes to gender equality, such as the idea that women are naturally destined for certain types of jobs, and criticising the DEI initiatives of corporations as business- rather than human- focussed. It's well explained and quite pleasant to read, but I didn't learn anything new here. Fine presents a good argument for the claim "women are undervalued because we care more about shareholder profit than people's wellbeing", a sentiment with which I agree, but her suggestions on what to do about it are limited. I was expecting a radical social manifesto, but the suggestions at the end read are vague (think 'change company culture') and don't address the key issue of firms choosing the most profitable route over the socially just one. That said, my criticisms are more about me than the book as I've already got some well-developed ideas on the topic. It will probably be eye-opening for readers who don't live in my social circle so I'd recommend to anyone who's never really thought about feminism since the 70s.

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

With keen insight and sharper humor, this is a fantastic book. It's been a while since I have marked a book up so much. Thankful

[Jack Potter]

I know that business is not my area of expertise but even with my limited knowledge and a decent internet connection, this book seemed like a load of rubbish.