I suspect most of those making contributions like Janie's will be women. I once wondered why my mother was loath to let me loose in the kitchen when I was a lad, and why she refused to teach me how to use her beloved sewing machine until I read Generations: Grandmothers, Mothers and Daughters, by Diane Bell with. Ponch Hawkes, McPhee Gribble and. Penguin Books, Melbourne 1987.

It was then I discovered the patterns of inheritance (in a patronymic society) that women prefer. And I celebrate them, with them.

Cheers, Rowan