I just think that it is a sad reflection of the times in which we live that some people believe that women have no sense of humour and must be protected from us big rough blokes.
And maybe they do.
I spent most of my career working very closely with a minority of women in a male dominated environment. There was an unquestioning assumption of superiority on the part of the male contingent even though many of the women could wipe the floor with them intellectually. Sexist jokes were common in the earlier days and the women duly laughed at them, after all it was expected of them and it was the males who held the positions of authority - always best to laugh at the boss' jokes isn't it?
The majority of the men were normal blokes who just took the situation for granted, it just came naturally to them to not appreciate the contribution of their women colleagues, take them for granted and judge them on appearance rather than ability - it's what blokes do isn't it? And we are not talking 20 years ago, we are talking now!
When I retired, ten of my female colleagues insisted on taking me out for a drink to express their thanks for the way I had expressed my appreciation for their work and for "sticking up for them". My male colleagues where quite baffled by this as I suspect would be some of the posters on this thread.
Although not directly relevant to this topic, I also found that women usually worked a damn sight harder than their male counterparts.
Colin
