The vagina business : the innovative breakthroughs that could change everything in women's health

The vagina business The innovative breakthroughs that could change everything in women's health

Marina Gerner

Book - 2024

"We live in a society that prioritizes men's convenience over women's suffering. Nowhere is this more evident in the female technology industry. In 2020, the total value of investment in the digital health industry was $14.1 billion. Female-focused digital health companies received just 1.8% of that funding. Women continue to get short-changed when it comes to their health and sexual wellness because venture capitalists are predominantly male. And these male investors often either fail to believe a product designed and marketed toward people with vaginas is necessary, or they otherwise find it "icky" in some way. THE VAGINA BUSINESS dives deep to expose the inherent sexism in finance, tech, and medicine, with first-...hand accounts from the women who have overcome these challenges to create the new and necessary industry that is femtech. Thoroughly reported based off interviews with 100 entrepreneurs and innovators in the femtech space by an award-winning journalist, writer, and professor, THE VAGINA BUSINESS demonstrates the connections between the obstacles female entrepreneurs face in the board room, and the unnecessary pain and suffering women deal with everywhere else-as well as how we can overcome it"--

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Subjects
Sexism > Economic aspects.
Women > Health and hygiene.
Businesswomen.
Sexism.
Published
Naperville, Illinois : Sourcebooks [2024]
Language
English
Main Author
Marina Gerner (author)
Physical Description
xxxiii, 408 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781728263304
  • Introduction: Skin in the game
  • Part I. Something new under the sun : Launch ; Money ; Research ; Unmet needs
  • Part II. Women-centric design : Period apps, the OG ; Sextech ; The future of contraception ; Fertilitytech ; Familytech ; Menopausetech ; Final frontier
  • Part III. Out into the world : Community ; Big in Japan ; The insidious side ; Vigilantes ; Impressions ; Business & society.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

How women entrepreneurs are creating tech-based solutions to enhance female well-being. Women's health issues have long been neglected by both medical science and society, and the taboos still surrounding the wordvagina make frank discussions difficult. In this refreshingly forthright book, financial journalist Gerner explores how gutsy female innovators working in femtech--an emerging technological field that focuses on "maternity, birth, periods, sex, menopause, fertility, and contraception"--are disrupting a health care system built to the measure of men. Stigma and a lack of understanding of female bodily functions are just two of the many hurdles femtech entrepreneurs face. Perhaps the most daunting barrier, though, is finding money to fund projects, since almost 90% of venture capitalists are men. Despite these difficulties, Gerner shows that women entrepreneurs are building profitable companies that specialize in everything from smart bras, period-tracking apps, and AI-powered vibrators to a nonhormonal liquid contraceptive gel and user-friendly artificial insemination devices. Those innovators with a bent for social justice are using technology to create tools that assist rural and/or low-income females. Three who call themselves "Synergistic Sisters in Science" have developed an app to assist pregnant women of color monitor health indicators and find "resources and peer support" as more and more "maternity care deserts" emerge across the United States. Gerner's personal passion for the subject is clear in the many interviews she incorporates throughout the book with entrepreneurs and femtech innovators from the U.S., Europe, and Asia. As it redefines the "archetype of female entrepreneurship," her highly readable book offers hope for positive new ways of not only thinking and talking about female bodies but also improving health outcomes for women worldwide. Energetic, thoroughly engaging reading. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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