I also work for a BBC radio programme, yet my department has gender equality. The BBC's Today programme should take note
Poor Ceri Thomas. Verily, he squirmeth. Watching him wriggle makes me feel like a strapping schoolyard brawler poking a weeny worm with a stick. Is it the worm of discrimination, being poked by the stick of justice? Hmm – you can see why my prose never made Book at Bedtime. Anyway, I write in a spirit of absolution. Thomas is a victim of circumstance. He happens, through a stroke of bad luck which must agonise him, to manage a show which has one woman presenter out of five and 10 woman contributors out of a hundred. It makes me sad. But it makes me happy that he's 'working on it'.
Let Queen B help.
To get more women on your show you need to invite more. Invite half, since that is a fair representation of us in the population. Defenders of the status quo speak as though this is a difficult procedure, logistically complicated, psychologically taxing, physically a little nauseating and philosophically complex. It's not. Research who you want and then contact them. Do not wait for Mercury (planet of communication) and Uranus (planet of sudden change) to be in alignment with Aries (sign of energy).
Equality happens when the participants in a team value it and act on it. I currently present The Strand for the World Service. We have total sexual equality and a cultural diversity which make me want to kiss the marble steps of Bush House in tribute every time I go to work. We've achieved this by facilitating it. Same goes for Front Row, various Beeb radio arts shows and the few documentaries I've been privileged to work on. The same goes for countless producers I've met. It is endorsement from the top – the editors and execs – that is needed.
Thomas talks defensively about 'the re-emergence of bull-headed sexism', as though this is what Today has been accused of. It isn't. Bull-headed sexism is easy to fight because of its blatancy. Far more pernicious is an unconscious and generalised misogyny which is prevalent in organisations and industries of all kinds. The public absence of women is enforced automatically and attempts to change are resisted with spurious arguments fuelled by basic unwillingness. It makes no difference whether the perpetrators are male or female. If they have no politics they will not do anything to challenge the status quo. Additionally, women in these organisations are in a tricky position: if you speak up, you jeopardise your position.
Should Thomas be feeling unconfident in the face of all this, let me urge him to valour. If he employs so very few women in such a very obvious way, on such an important show, he is seeming to hint that he does not like women. If he did, he would be able to stomach more than one at a time. It must torment him to be misrepresented like this, so no doubt any changes will be dramatic and happen swiftly. We women are the single biggest group in the world. Ceri Thomas, you have the power to change the world of Today, and we will make you a hero for it. Be not afraid.
Hope that helps.
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