If an industry had a ''gender'' would the print sector be male or female?

The Australian Printer magazine is to be congratulated for its recent attempt to recognise those who have contributed - in various ways - to the betterment of our industry.

Comments from readers reflect a range of views, but a recurring theme was ''Why so few women?''

To be fair to the Australian Printer, it is merely a giant looking-glass which reflects our own image in its pages.

This question would not have been asked even a decade or two ago, when our industry was like the queue you'd see lining up outside the Gents toilet. You get the message. All blokes.

Let me reassure you, dear reader, as an industry we're embarking on an exciting journey, not so much technical as undergoing gender-reassignment!

Do not panic, this condition does not require surgery (thank goodness).

We're more like the caterpillar that slowly morphs into a butterfly.

We've been through our ''blokey'' phase which lasted about 400 years where the emphasis was on big, powerful, throbbing, pulsating machinery.

Where ''my 105 was bigger than your 102''; and where ''my 10-colour perfector was superior to your 8-colour inline'' - which was not always the case, as many companies discovered.

And without getting into too much anatomical debate about whether or not ''does size matter?'', the gender-transformation idea is not a bad one as we transition away from obsessing about ''print quality'' and worry more about becoming a ''service'' industry, ie, looking after our customers.

The notion of service can be a slippery slope - but - who are leading the charge to a more service-based industry: women. And the more we employ the better our service will become.

Now before some of you accuse me of being a cranky old male chauvinist, let me lay claim to employing the first female print rep - Sarah McNeill in Melbourne - seen here in the Melbourne sales office of WJ Cryers/Avery Label Australia - back in 1978! Sarah did a fantastic job for us!

Now that's what I call being a pioneer of women's lib - can anyone better that!