Women at the Helm.

Warning: This is a sexist post.

I’m one of those people who believe that, generally speaking, men and women are different. They think differently; they respond differently; they view the world differently. In some moods, I get on better with men. In others, I get on better with women. That proves it, doesn’t it? OK, maybe not. That phenomenon could just be a self-fulfilling prophecy stemming from my own flawed perception. I still believe the basic axiom, however. I have to because what I’m going to say next wouldn’t make sense otherwise.

I look back at the history of the world and see that, at most times and in most cultures, men have held the reins of power. Men see that role as their birthright. Even I was no exception when I was younger. But we haven’t made a very good job of it, have we? True, most of the great artists, philosophers, explorers and innovators were men, but that was just a side effect of the dominant gender presumption. When it comes to the exercise of power, the history of mankind has been one long tale of greed, abuse, violence, genocide... So maybe it’s about time the world reversed its polarity and the women had their turn.

But there’s a problem here. When women do gain power, they seem to think that the only way of doing the job properly is to become men in skirts. They start to talk, think and behave like men. Maybe that’s because the presumption is too deeply ingrained, or maybe it’s because they’re usually surrounded by a pack of men seeking to pounce on the merest ‘mistake’ so the errant woman can be returned to the kitchen or bedroom where she belongs. I don’t know; it’s a complex issue. All I know is that it would be interesting to see women exercising power in a feminine way.

We in Britain have two notable examples of women gaining supreme power: Queen Elizabeth I and Margaret Thatcher.

Elizabeth’s most famous quotation was ‘I may be a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king.’ My point precisely. As for Mrs Thatcher, she doesn’t count. I never saw her as a woman from the outset. In fact, I’m not entirely convinced she was even human. The fact that several male politicians thought her ‘sexy’ merely endorses my pejorative view of most male politicians: emptiness in expensive suits.

The best personal experience I’ve had of a woman in power was provided by a woman called Judy Bowker. She was my manager during my time working at the theatre, and she had a management style I never encountered anywhere else. She was so loved by everybody that whenever she wanted anything doing, there was a queue of people wanting to do it. Forget management training courses. Her method was natural, and way above anything the clever people teach. When she died aged forty four, she was already little short of a legend to the people who knew her.

So will I ever see the like of her running something bigger than a provincial theatre? The Arts is one area in which women seem to have been able to come into their own, but I’ve never seen one run their show like Judy did. If the world was run by women like her, I think it just might be a better place.