Girlguiding and WI: women need single-sex organisations in a male dominated world

This week's news upsets the status quo of thoughtless men inserting themselves and kind women accommodating them.

A friend and I sat in the corner at a recent party, a drink in our hands, wryly observing. Near to us, a group of women had been happily talking to each other, and then a man, a man they didn’t know, came over and inserted himself. Once he’d turned up, all eyes went to him, and he was clearly doing most of the talking. The women nodded, listened, smiled. Watching from a distance, my friend and I sipped our drinks and narrowed our eyes. “Why do men do this?”, we wondered.

Now, to be fair, this was a networking party, and the man seemed nice enough. He was only doing what he’d come to do - meet other people and tell them about his business. But let’s be honest, this is a story that is instantly recognisable to women everywhere, and it happens outside the confines of work events. Men insert themselves, willy nilly, don’t they.