Well, roughly 66 years, since the beginning of what’s referred to as the golden era of advertising, in the 1960s. Perhaps the word ‘golden’ referred to the beige sheen of skin and rich blondness of hair of the men who dominated our industry for so long. There’s many reasons why advertising was primarily male for such a long time; traditional family structures with women staying at home took a while to evolve.

And they’re still evolving. Let’s not forget that during the pandemic 46% of mothers made redundant blame the catastrophic lack of childcare provision (source: Pregnant then Screwed). For a long time, many jobs were gendered; nurses were women, bankers were men, women worked in the arts, men worked in STEM (of course it’s not revolutionarily different today!) The skills required in marketing; negotiation, elaborate presentations and confident public speaking - are sometimes considered to be more male than female. This is all historical baggage that over time...