I was trying to do one of the many aspects of my job: demonstrating a new piece of software to a roomful of factory operatives who would be using it on a daily basis.

What I hadn't realised was that the aforementioned factory operatives had clearly never seen a woman before. That was the only conclusion I could draw from their reaction.

As I walked into the room of chattering voices, I was met with a stunned silence.

As I leaned over the desk, setting up the laptop, I heard what can only be described as a mooing sound from the side. Then, mutterings from behind me towards the moo-er: "You're lucky you're not sitting where I am, you wouldn't be able to control yourself..."

Funnily enough, this behaviour had not materialised when, a couple of weeks previously, my male colleague had given the same demonstration.

No, I wasn't naked. No, I didn't descend into the room through the ceiling. No, I didn't cartwheel my way in dressed in a bright orange leotard (the leotard was being dry-cleaned at the time). And no, I did not burst out of an oversized birthday cake strategically placed in the middle of the room. Had I been doing any of these extraordinary things, I would have expected such flabbering of gasts as was evident from this sorry affair.

But no. I was just a woman, trying to do my job. Evidently, this proved too much for this particular band of neanderthals.

If anyone can tell me why we still have to put up with this nonsense, I'd be grateful.

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Yes, I *am* aware that I'm supposed to have stopped blogging...