“There will be disagreements and there will be difficulties”

But just because I am not particularly adroit commentator on the male perspective does not give me the right to mansplain about the experience of women in optometry. Which is why when OT’s editor informed me of the subject of this edition of your journal, my first instinct was to suggest that we give the job of penning the editorial to a someone better qualified. Equally, there is something instinctively wrong about limiting a debate about gender roles to members of only one gender. If there is one thing that the last few years have taught us it is that gender is a fluid, complicated subject and cannot easily or comfortably be reduced to a binary debate. And if we are going to tackle the undoubted issues which arise from the change in our profession from one dominated, largely, by male white figures to one increasingly populated by women coming from a more ethnically diverse background, that is not something which those of us who are from the former group can merely sit back and watch happen.

So, what is it that we white males can contribute? If nothing else, get out of the way. In other professions I have been part of, I have seen the older generation of men fight tooth (well, more denture than tooth) and nail to hang on to their assumed pre-eminence. For all that I have met one or two old fossils in my time in optometry, I have seen no signs that we will have that sort of problem in our profession. At the AOP, for example, we have eased quietly from a position where we had only had one female Board Chairmen in our history to having had two in a row. Our Council too is now largely female in make-up. Add to that the increasing presence of people from non-white backgrounds – just shy of half our Councillors fall into this category – and it looks like the profile of the leadership of the AOP is at least changing in line with the change in the profile of the profession.

However, passively not resisting change is not enough. We need to make sure that the structures of our organisations – and our profession – are altered to fit the needs of the new generation of optometrists. That is not merely a question of having decent maternity and menopause policies in place. It may also mean literal structural change. Over the past couple of years, we have been slowly refurbishing AOP’s head office, both as part of the regular cycle of upkeep, but also to adapt it to the new world of hybrid working. In doing so we have taken the opportunity to consider what else we need to do to make it welcoming for our staff and visitors, improving disabled access, creating a multifaith prayer room, and turning one of our toilets into a gender-neutral facility.

The profile of the leadership of the AOP is at least changing in line with the change in the profile of the profession

But, as we all know, there will always be needs which we cannot meet. As my social media feed reminds me every morning, this is a contested, bitter space.

Human rights are tricky things and one person’s rights may conflict with those of another. As the generation shift in optometry takes place, there will be disagreements and there will be difficulties. Sometimes a solution is possible. But sometimes, there is no solution and someone will – in their eyes at least – lose out. All we can do is conduct ourselves in as civilised and respectful manner that we can. And fortunately, if I have learned nothing else in optometry, those are the values which seem to be embedded in every AOP member.