Whenever I speak at an event, my audience is predominantly women, but there are always a few blokes scattered about. Most of them are probably accompanying their partners, but it is good to see them anyway. I don’t consider them “brave” – what’s with this weird idea that a room full of women is scary to men? And I certainly don’t make a fuss of them or single them out to thank them for attending, but I am aware that they are different from their fellows. Most men, sadly, still actively avoid anything they see as female-dominated.

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I believe this male aversion to anything girly is a quiet form of sexism that profoundly affects both men and women. And I think it is an actual aversion, not just indifference or boredom. The anxiety men feel when confronted with women in a group has always struck me as odd. Women, as every verifiable stat confirms, have much more to fear from men than vice versa, yet women will happily be in the minority at a sporting event, a film, a political meeting, a conference or any other gathering you care to describe.

I have often been the only woman in a room, especially professionally. Never once did anyone congratulate me for being brave enough to be there. Yet the other day, in a........

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