Not too long ago, I was at a media event. As most media events go, unless the occasion has been organised to comment on women in the profession, they are usually male-dominated with a smattering of women present. Here we had about half a dozen men and, including me, two women.  There was a while before the conference began, and so it was that we all settled down for a cup of tea. The dynamic was very interesting.

In this herd of high-profile aggressive journalists, I chose to sit next to the only other woman present. Soon enough it became increasingly evident to me that the last thing she wanted was to create some semblance of sisterhood. My colleague was much more interested in being ‘one of the guys.’ She spoke in tones to match theirs – overly assertive and masculine to the point of being macho. The men quickly fell into a banter that varied from fraternal camaraderie to the kind of strutting one sees at the Wagah border or at cockfights. Continue reading ‘The World’s Longest Revolution’