For reasons best known to itself, the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) has decided, appearances to the contrary, that Lem must be a female name. I know this because every email or letter I get from the PPA is addressed to “Ms Lem Bingley”. 

Presumably the PPA rents its list of highly accurate editorial names, because I get quite a few letters from the less switched-on public relations firms addressed to Ms Lem as well. You can tell they are not the brightest bulbs in the PR box because they send letters, rather than dispatching emails or picking up the phone and finding out that I have a very deep voice for a Ms.

It’s not quite as silly as the period, in the mid-1990s, when I used to get mail addressed to “Mr Me Lem Bingley”. It took me a while to work out that a bunny must have called and asked, “Who should I send press releases to?” and I must have replied, “You can send them to me, Lem Bingley.”

Back in the present, I’m concerned that my honorary status as a female journalist may get me into some awkward spots. The other day I received a card inviting me to an event organised by a group called Women in the City. The event looked very interesting, and I was about to respond in the affirmative, when I suddenly stopped and thought. I’m not a woman, and I don’t work in the City. Maybe it’s not for me.