So, David, you consider yourself qualified to tell people the world over what cultural practices they may be allowed to follow (including what songs they can sing and how they must sing them), along with where they may live and work. In addition, you would restrict the activities of women even further, mandating specific sports and art forms they not be allowed to participate in, since they are intellectually incapable of making such determinations themselves. And this is for their own good, of course.

While trying to support your point by focusing on Sue Barker's taking pain-killer shots, did it ever occur to you to check on any male athletes who do the same thing? Of course not! And as far as women running the Marathon are concerned, you might take a moment or two to educate yourself on the subject: CLICKY. And I fail to see how writing a semi-impressionistic but generally incomprehensible quatrain about having seen Swan Lake and The Nutcracker makes you an authority on ballet technique.

I'm sure that women the world over will show your concern for their welfare with all of the appreciation it deserves.

There may be a reason that you don't know very many women.

Who, precisely, anointed you Grand Poohbah of the Cosmos?

God save us from the megalomaniacs of the world!!

Don Firth