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Is this a private flogging or can anyone join in? Debbie, what have you started? If we can get back to The Point instead of trading quips (most entertaining day for ages by the way) my perception is that the public see the job as male (my female colleagues agree with this). I have been asked many times "when will the archivist be back?" however, for the purposes of your study this should perhaps be qualified as there could be other reasons for this eg. they might expect archivists to be, ahem, older. On one memorable occasion last year a lady came in and said she wanted help reading an old document and "I don't want to see anyone young." So there may be more ageism than sexism (any jokes on this, Richard?). Also, without being paranoid, I am half Indian and I have wondered if people assume archivists will be white. I use a cartoon that I have drawn of "a typical archivist" who is male, wearing a big jumper and, yes, a beard as an ice-breaker for visiting groups. It has always been greeted with a laugh of recognition, however, my husband (a scientist and, er, bearded) has just said that this can't be taken as serious evidence as I haven't drawn a tweedy female "typical archivist" who might also be recognised. I'll happily send you the cartoon, (or anyone else) despite potential damage to career prospects. However, I have never (knowingly) experienced sexism from within the profession and I have worked in predominantly male and female offices as well as two which are more evenly balanced. All the men I know in the profession seem to regard women as equal in every respect and there are many women in senior posts. I don't know if many male archivists feel threatened by this, but all the guys I know don't seem to be too bothered and the ones on my course (Liverpool 1993-4) didn't seem too upset by being outnumbered 11-4. Finally, I'm disappointed that us cardigan wearing feisty babes can't think of any male archivist jokes if retaliation is needed. It's not as if they're known for their sartorial elegance or chiselled good looks although they can be useful for getting boxes down from high shelves... We all laughed like drains in unreconstructed Nottinghamshire. Pass the Immac Jenny Moran %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%