Why the world is still not built for women | Virginia Santy

**Modupe Akinola** (0:00)
I vividly remember running into a colleague of mine after she had a baby. We were both walking down the street and she was enthusiastically pushing a stroller. We stopped and chatted, and she told me she was trying to get some exercise. Turns out, it was impossible for her to find anywhere in the city that would accommodate a mom working out alongside her sleeping kid in a stroller. So strolling the avenues was how she incorporated movement into her day. The same is true of many of our workplaces. They're not built for caretakers of any gender. And often, they're not built specifically with women in mind. Which is infuriating. Because this disparity isn't just impacting women. When an office is designed for everyone, better, more collaborative work happens.
I'm Modupe Akinola, this is TED Business, a podcast from TED.
Our speaker today is Design Consultant Virginia Santy. In her talk, Virginia's telling us that when we talk about women in the workplace, we need to be thinking about women's physical experience in the workplace. No more freezing offices, no more hiding spaces for working moms who need to pump. What would it look like to design with all kinds of women in mind? Then after the talk, a call to action for the men in the room. But first, a quick break.
And now, Virginia Santy takes the TED stage.

**Virginia Santy** (1:35)
Do you feel comfortable?
Really think about your experience right now. Are you too hot or too cold? How does your butt feel, sitting in this chair?
Do you feel safe? These questions might seem a little silly, but silly for different reasons depending on your gender identity. We don't really ask these questions of men, because for the most part, we don't have to. Our environments are built for men and how they experience the world. For you women, these questions are different, because we are so conditioned to accept our own discomfort, to accept the environments or systems around us as normal and natural, we often fail to realize when they don't quite fit us. We just work around it. How many of you women are carrying a purse or a bag big enough to fit an extra sweater or a down comforter in case you get cold sometime today?
The truth is, the world wasn't built for women. In fact, in nearly every way, it's been quite literally built for men. From Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man to a concept called the Modular Man from the mid-20th century, we've used men's bodies to measure what we feel is normal and appropriate in our world. And then we've used those measurements to build everything around us, from chairs to buildings and cars. Women are, for the most part, not seen, not measured, not valued. And this means the basic physical structures of our environment or the structures of our systems work against women in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. And this is exponentially true for women of color, women with disabilities, and women with intersectional identities. It was only 20 years ago we included female crash test dummies.
It was only 1991 when we included women in medical trials. It is like we have only recently realized women aren't men.
A few years ago, I started daydreaming about what it would look like to build an office space, a workplace for women. I was tired of freezing in sterile-feeling offices. I felt defeated by the woeful tales of moms who had to breast pump in bathroom stalls or copy rooms. I was sick and tired of feeling guilt or embarrassment for having to bring my baby to work with me a few hours every once in a while to compensate for some caregiving emergency or another. So I started talking to women and asking them what worked, what didn't work in their spaces, and then I used that information to sketch out the perfect plan for a new workspace. Women told me office parking spaces are too narrow, and a car seat with a kid in it is pretty bulky and inflexible. So we designed our space with ample parking and spots wide enough to open a car door all the way and take out a car seat. Women told us simply entering a building can be frustrating. Have you ever walked up to a door and had to try a few times to get it open? You really had to throw your weight behind it? That's because doors open more easily for men. Literally, it is not just a metaphor anymore. So we reduced the force required to open our doors, making it easier for women to use them. Moms told us juggling work and children is their most difficult challenge. So instead of pretending workers are 100% autonomous agents with no human connection, and children simply drop from the sky and raise themselves, we planned for on-site childcare rooms where moms could use our partner childcare services or bring their kids to play while they worked. This all wasn't just physical. From research, we learned women are most likely to attend a professional development event with a friend. So we made all learning social. These were all great things, and the results were glorious. Women supported one another and collaborated across businesses and industries. They shared resources and recommendations, anecdotes and pep talks. We had built a place where women could unabashedly discuss that other scarlet letter, the capital A word for which they are so often judged and criticized. Ambition.