But what’s the alternative? Some sort of “affirmative action” programme, presumably, along the lines of competitions restricted to women conductors. But if part of the prize is a paid assistantship with an orchestra, won’t that fall foul of equal opportunities legislation? As the American experience has shown in so many fields, “affirmative action” doesn’t make the playing field more level, it fills it with pratfalls and fences topped with barbed wire. Women conductors are already becoming more common, and my feeling is that we’re almost at the tipping point where they become commonplace. But first we need to learn how to appreciate, in a "non-gendered" way, a cultural practice that until now has been very heavily gendered. Conducting has “maleness” written deep into its bones, and to expunge that will take time. Let’s not try to rush that process, by telling people how to think and feel.