I do most of the admin in our household.

So I registered our family with a new GP after moving house. But my husband got sent the consent form to request details from the old GP on behalf of the family. Not me.

I inquired why he received that, even though I am registered as the main point of contact for the family. The reply: Standard procedure.

Apparently, the man is still head of the family. Automatic decision maker. Default family deputy. 

Have we not moved past this patriarchal view of the world? Clearly not.

I do a lot of work with women in leadership positions in male dominated environments. I can tell you all about the gender pay gap, women leaving the workforce, not progressing as fast as men in their careers, etcetera. Part of the solution is working with women to empower them to step out and step up.

But how can we expect women to empower themselves, if society keeps being male-centric? And keeps by-passing them. As part of the standard procedure?

There's clearly a lot more work to do...