Last week was certainly not one of those weeks.
Andy Murray earned himself a great deal of respect when he corrected a journalist who referred to Sam Querrey, who had knocked the British player out of Wimbledon, as ‘the first US player to reach a major semi-final since 2009’.
Murray, quite rightly, corrected him by saying ‘Male player’, which led to praise in the national and international press and on social media.
He also earned big brownie points from his mum, Judy Murray (who recently visited Jersey), who, following the exchange during a Wimbledon press conference, tweeted ‘That’s my boy’.
Then just a few days later it was announced that Jodie Whittaker was to become the 13th Doctor Who – and first female to play the role in the show’s 54-year history.
Commenting on her appointment, she said: ‘It feels completely overwhelming, as a feminist, as a woman, as an actor, as a human, as someone who wants to continually push themselves and challenge themselves, and not be boxed in by what you’re told you can and can’t be. It feels incredible.’
It has been heralded as another example of why gender shouldn’t matter, with some saying it was about time there was a female Doctor.
However, not everyone thinks the appointment is an ‘incredible’ one.
And how depressing is that? Sure, you’ll always get those who moan about who takes over such roles because of their acting skills, or their past or whatnot, and the world would be a very boring place if we all agreed with each other, but discounting her just because she’s a woman is just plain offensive.
Elsewhere in the world this week, a teenage girl died in Nepal after being bitten by a snake while banished to a cowshed as part of a menstruation ritual in which young women are separated from their families and made to sleep alone for the whole time they are on their period.
Then, in what is thought to be a world first, Scotland announced that it would give out free sanitary products to those financially in need as part of a pilot scheme in Aberdeen.
The move, which is set to benefit around 1,000 women on low incomes, is costing the government around £42,500 and has been hailed by The Scotsman as potentially the first national government-sponsored effort of its type.
And now the Advertising Standards Agency has announced a ban on adverts which depict women as being solely responsible for things such as cooking, cleaning and childcare.
As I say, it has been a busy week, and one filled with many contradictions that led to many different debates.
But all of those conversations come back to the same thing – us women and how we, periods and all, fit into society.
Then, perfectly timed to top it all off, here in Jersey a new States Assembly Diversity Forum was launched, with one of its priorities to get more women into local politics. It also plans to look at maternity, paternity, adoption and caring leave for States Members, who currently have no such arrangements in place bar not turning up for meetings and sittings.
It goes without saying that such a forum should be welcomed. And with Chief Minister Ian Gorst helping to lead it alongside Deputy Louise Doublet – who has experienced all of these things first hand and has a proven track record of standing up for women and families in the States, it is getting off to the best possible start.
But it is going to take a whole lot more than the forum itself to really make a difference.
It’s going to take a community that is able to place women on an even footing with men, yet recognise at the same time that each are inherently different and sometimes – not always – they have different needs and perspectives.
It is going to take the right kind of policies and systems to ensure that women feel empowered and supported and practically able.
And it is going to take some very brave women who are willing to put themselves out there despite the challenges.
Women should not be elected simply because of their sex, of course.
But nor should they be discounted; from the States, from sporting history or from major television roles, because of it.
A quiet week where you almost forget that sexism – casual or otherwise and in our modern, western world or elsewhere around the world – exists does not mean that it has gone away altogether.
And actually, as frustrating – sad even – as it may be to hear a journalist discount ultra successful female US tennis stars, or read the tripe that some people have been posting online following the Doctor Who announcement, or to hear the tragic story of that teenager who died alone having been banished for simply being a healthy woman, those headlines can inspire change in ways that a quiet week most certainly cannot.
