I didn’t fancy the idea of my hormones being turned upside down

11a.m Sunday. My daughter has spent the past two weeks writing a research proposal on gender sex-typing. Now, the morning after its completion, she is sitting on the sofa, liberated.

“It’s such a fantastic feeling,” she says, “my brain feels so light.”

“Every cell in my brain feels like it’s carrying a sack of coal,” I say.