I was at a social event early in the year when International Womens Day (March 8th) was discussed. Someone asked why there was not a similar day for men, and one of those present with a sense of humour pointed out that men were in charge of the other 364 days. However it turns out that there is such a day, and it falls today. It is painfully clear that in some organisations and industries men really are in charge. In some cases that may not matter. I work for a small Audio Visual installation company. We would love to employ a female engineer who could bring in perspectives that the rest of us might miss (sometimes by a mile), however most of the time the absence of a female AV technician has no practical consequence to either clients or the business. My other main role is representing Sussex churches at strategic meetings and encouraging the churches to meet social needs, as well as articulating their views where this is appropriate. Last night I had to leave my AV work early to beat the traffic back into Brighton and take part in a TV interview as a Street Pastor to comment on the ‘Carnage’ event in the city, a commercially organised pub and club crawl, that largely lives up to its name! Street Pastors, Foodbanks and temporary nightshelters are three of the recent successes of the churches in Sussex and I am delighted to have been involved to some extent in all of these. There is no sense of a gender bias or barrier in any of this work. Men and Women work side by side without any sense of one or the other being dominant or subservient in any way. This week another aspect of church life is also in the spotlight. The part of the Church of England that sets its policies, its general Synod, is meeting in London, and their debates and decision making will include the issue of women Bishops. Assuming that the decisions taken will be the outcome that many of us are hoping for, a major step forward will be taken. Sadly it will take decades for sufficient numbers of women Bishops to be appointed to create the sense of interchangeability and ease of joint endeavour at this senior level within the Church of England as it is in the work of foodbanks, Street Pastors and nightshelters.

In many respects it is a great deal easier for adults to focus on the parts of society where men dominate, and women are denied access, than to spot areas where any gender imbalance is to the detriment of men. Male dominance at a senior level is all too evident in the Church, corporate business and political structures. However occasionally I meet with others to discuss the areas where society is less open and accessible to men with the help of Mankind UK. It seems clear that there is a generation where gender disadvantage appears to be the experience of the boys in the room. I do not have enough knowledge or insight to know what the big solutions are, but it is clear that boys underperform in many of our educational settings from reception classes through to University graduation which should be of concern to all of us. As it is International Mens Day, we are encouraged to reflect on a someone who we could call a hero. My hero for today is a bloke called Andy, he is one of the small number of Primary School teachers in his School and in the Primary Sector across the City. He offers a role model to some of the boys in the School who need to have confidence that if they persevere, they too can succeed in their ambitions. We need more men like Andy who are prepared to work in an almost entirely female workforce. His personal challenges must be similar to those that will be felt by the first few women Bishops, or if we could find some candidates to be our first female AV engineer. I am grateful for the hard work that Andy does in his School, inspiring a generation where boys do not dominate the environment.