WOMEN prove an inspiration’ says our headline, and don’t they just...

Because no matter how many times we’re told that women are on an even footing with men, the truth is one foot is definitely bigger than the other.

And if there is one thing we should have learned by now it is this: that women are every bit the equal of men. Indeed, in many cases, they’re ahead.

And while the jokes about the differences between men and women might be amusing, the truth is, they’re getting pretty tired.

Naturally, there are certain physical activities in which men can generally prove all-conquering (such as the quantity of liquid they can consume on a Saturday night), but that evolutionary advantage aside, women have proved for decades (if not for millennia) that, if the playing field is level, they can compete with men in every intellectual discipline.

But that’s not all: when it comes to Emotional Intelligence (EI) which many companies now test for, their scores are light years ahead of the male competition.

We shouldn’t be surprised that Abingdon Military Wives Choir and Oxford’s first Green Lord Mayor have been nominated for their achievements.

Long gone should be the days when the success of women is celebrated as a rarity. It’s the norm.