Feminists should not forget that hitherto so much of human history has been taken up with having to battle hard with the elements. Whether we’re talking about men going down pits, men fighting wars, or men who built everything from living accommodation to the machinery that created the industrial revolution and the technologically-advanced, push-button/click-on life-style we have today. Taming these elements historically required sheer rugged physicality and strength. The forces in question had to be engaged, suppressed and controlled for the greater good of mankind.

The initiation is invariably the hardest part of any endeavour. It is then that maximum energy is required to get the thing going, energy that is usually at the extremes of human nature. I think it is fair to say that men have been more likely, for good and for bad, to inhabit these extremes than women. Add the need for brute force and it is only men who could have brought about the advances necessary for the emancipation of the human race. If left to women, humans would still be living in a primal state.

Some of what I say might be mistaken as misogynist and this of course would be a travesty. I think of myself as a feminist but always prepared to criticise when appropriate. I’m no apologist for the male of the species and have little inclination toward them. But credit where it’s due. There will have been many good men who gave their lives to fighting the elements. We should all be mindful of this fact, feminist and misogynist alike.