Man-Made: How We Designed a World That Leaves Women Out, and How We Can Make It Right

by Karen Korellis Reuther

An industrial designer and former Global Creative Director at Nike delivers a sharp critique of the consequences of a world built by and for men, and offers an optimistic look at how we might build a better world for us all.

Women and men inhabit the same world, yet it does not suit them both equally.

Women are 73% more likely to be injured in a car crash than men. In the military, women suffer pelvic fractures at a much higher rate than their male counterparts. In construction, 90% of women are unable to find proper fitting safety gear.

These outcomes are not a coincidence—they are a result of products where the female population is an afterthought at best. Automobile crash test dummies used for safety tests are designed based on male anatomy, as is firefighting gear and personal protective equipment. Using a “shrink it and pink it” strategy, sneakers for women are scaled down versions originally designed for a man’s foot, and colored a stereotypical feminine color–like pink. In the design of products and places, the female body is often invisible and ignored. The result is a world less hospitable and more dangerous for women.

It doesn’t have to be this way. A designer for over 40 years at some of the world’s top corporations, including Reebok and Nike, Karen Korellis Reuther has witnessed the way women continue to be excluded from critical product design decisions. But Man-Made isn’t a patriarchal lament; it is a rousing call to action drawn from research-backed insights, market analyses, and expertise from leading designers, executives, and economists.

From the simply insulting and uncomfortable to the dangerous and deadly, the effects of exclusively man-made designs are wide-ranging. Rethinking and expanding product design and architecture, Reuther contends, will not only create a world that better fits women, but a world that better fits everyone.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Adult

368 pages, Hardcover

Published July 7, 2026

Reviews

[maven]

So poorly written, including confusing sex and gender frequently, and full of continuous personal anecdotes by the author that were entirely irrelevant. Very condescending in tone at times as well.

Read Invisible Women by Caroline Criado-Perez instead, if you haven't already.

[Erica Eastman]

Overall this is an important book in terms of documenting the depth and breadth of sexism and misogyny working against women and offering some wins in how inclusive design helps everyone. Much of the information I was already familiar with, so if you have been exposed to this topic already much here is not new.

About halfway through, the book started feeling very repetitive and overall could've been a better read it if was edited down and organized in a different way; I struggled to get through the last quarter. For me, it was depressing to group all the problems in the beginning and then bring up the same topics again and again later when it came to solutions and wins. I would've preferred reading by topic: problem ->solution and dedicated chapters to that topic then drop it and move on. Group her own career experiences and Nike and then move on. Instead everything felt jumbled together and uncohesive and I started feeling sick of a topic because it felt like she already mentioned it several times.

I admire her for her talent as one of the few female industrial designers who has managed to make it in the field, and wish there were many, many more women in design who were given the opportunity to make it to the VP level and beyond. I feel like there was another more memoir type book here just on her own journey and exploring the issue of why there are so few women able to make it in certain male dominated areas of design. There's a serious pipeline problem in many areas of design for anyone but white men, and then not being pushed out once you try and start your career is another level of struggle everyone else has to push through.

Overall I felt this was a missed opportunity but an important read for people unfamiliar with this subject.

[Jan]

If you wonder how a world could be designed for men, read this book! Female sized & proportioned crash-test dummies are only tested in passenger seats, from the 60s to now - and even now, there's no such thing as a pregnancy-shaped dummy or accommodation for a seat belt. SUVs are designed for male bodies; female drivers have to pull up their seats so that if air bags deploy, women are hit in the chin and not the chest. Women experiencing heart attacks die more frequently because people (even doctors) are more reluctant to touch women's chests - and CPR dummies are always male, so nobody has a chance to practice on a female body. And so on. Some parts are written in business language, but the examples are illuminating. Hopefully more architects and designers will incorporate these ideas into new-built projects.

[Margaret]

I already knew some of the information provided in this book, but the extent of the design bias towards the standard man presented here infuriated me. The following quote really got to me…” Women are 73% more likely to be injured in a car crash than men.” and the author explains that this is because safety features are designed around a man’s body. Why is it still okay to not take female bodies into consideration when designing things? Why does unisex really mean designed for a man. The 'shrink it and pink' it and then increase the price needs to stop. This is an important read, although it did feel a bit repetitive at times. The book is also a call to action, and as consumers we need to demand change. Thanks to Edelweiss+ for the digital advance reading copy. 4/5 stars!

[Christine Lepird]

I read Invisible Women earlier this year and was disappointed by how shallow it was, so I went into this book with low expectations. But wow did it blow me away with its thoughtfulness and thoroughness. The author felt like a wise, successful older sister who has been through every uncomfortable situation that I thought was unique to my experiences. She does a great job to advocate for all women in the world - moms, blue collar workers, orthopedic surgeons, etc.

[Erin]

A refreshing take on gender issues from the point of design. Very approachable for this non-design/engineer, anyone can - and should- read this book for a different point of view that will surely make you think more critically of the industrial world in which we all think. Any book that makes me think- even if I don’t agree- deserve 5 stars. Well done.

[Randi]

I already knew many of this book's talking points through online conversations, but I think this is an important conversation that needs to be had, awareness needs to be raised, and women deserve to be furious.

[Kay]

Listened to the audiobook. Narration was good. Some parts and some chapters were much more interesting than others. And some parts I felt rambled on and dragged on and I lost interest. It was also enraging to read at times too.

[Carol Hay]

Great information on how our world is made for men - and how that impacts the safety, health, productivity, image, and pretty much everything related to women. Some things have been corrected, some are in the process of improving but much is yet to be done! Great book to inspire change!

[Dorothy]

Thought provoking. Will lead to a lively Book Group discussion!

[Melissa]

Wanna read a book that will piss you off? This is the one for you.

[Dana]

3.5