Call me naïve, but I was struck and dismayed by a string of articles on the social media today. First, a report of the 19^th Chinese Communist Party Congress, and the images of dozens of men in suits…and one woman. Then the protests about said congress by Tibetan nationalists, men in orange togas facing up to men in uniforms, crowd scenes of lots of shouting…men. Then a photo report on Istanbul, crowd scenes of, guess what, men, clumps of black veiled women, cheeky children (boys), more men, more cheeky boys and glimpses of their veiled mothers in the background, but not a single girl child.

In how many countries would you expect to see the same thing, women at home, girls invisible, and all the leaders male, all the protesters in the streets male? Far too many. Women in general have little or no public face and little or…