Several years ago, I was invited, alongside my partner – a leading researcher at a local university – to a special themed event to celebrate women in the North East of England that I won’t name here.
We both attended the pre-event dinner at a chain restaurant in the city, where we sat, our food slowly getting cold, as one man after another representing the event and its sponsors stood up to tell us how cherished female entrepreneurship was in the region, and how they felt their female-focused event was long overdue – and would hopefully be the first of a long series of events that could raise up female voices.
Our food got cold. Multiple women I spoke to after that evening felt they’d been talked down to, both from the pre-dinner speakers and the high-powered men they were sat next to and forced to hear condescension from throughout the evening....