So tell us, where have all the men gone?

THE BBC is said to be aiming to have a 50:50 ratio of men and women presenters. Is it a good idea that potentially a lesser skilled person could be employed because of the boxes they tick? No, the best person for the job should be employed in every instance. The BBC says it wants women to be better represented, which is strange as I often play the game of spot the male presenter when I watch TV. Even rarer are Brexiteers. ERIC CRAGGS, Shildon, Co. Durham. AS THE proud father — sorry, I mean biological parent — of a female child (I almost used the word daughter, but that would expose me as the holder of paternalist attitudes that link her identity as derivative of mine, my wife (oops, partner) and I attended a ceremony at the Law Society in London where new solicitors were being admitted to the roll. The room was packed by other proud parents there to witness their daughters receiving their ceremonial scrolls. Where were all the new male solicitors? I am also the proud father of a son, who is a Merchant Navy engineer. I know where all the men are in that career: down in the engine room. However, on the bridge the number of women deck officers continues to increase. The question of where are all the men isn’t one that just applies to the BBC. Increasingly it applies to the law, politics, teaching and almost all the white-collar professions. STEPHEN ALLISON, Hurworth Burn, Co. Durham. IN AN effort to reduce the gender gap, the pendulum has swung the other way. We are bombarded with claims about the so-called inequality that women experience in the workplace in pay and conditions, but there are so many females presenting TV programmes and in senior public positions that it is men who are under-represented. Let’s have a more equal balance of women and men on a level playing field. JAMES ATKINSON, Emsworth, Hants.