Did you ever look around at a meeting or a lecture room and wondered where all the women were?

Finnish researcher of nuclear weapons policy and Doctor of Social Sciences Saara Särmä comments on the theme in her humorous Tumblr blog, which has attracted much international attention.

The blog, started by Särmä in 2015, brings together pictures of male panels, “manels”. Manels are expert panels, all the participants of which are male, whether the topic is politics, technology or women’s rights. The website is sarcastically entitled “Congrats, you have an all-male panel!” Congratulations indeed. Again, there are no women participating! The photographs feature a superimposed picture of David Hasselhoff giving a thumbs up. Särmä also publishes pictures of all-white panels.

The popularity of Särmä’s blog is based on the fact that it is able to handle a serious issue through humour. Discussions in the public eye are still mainly held by men.

But can a blog also have an effect on the phenomenon underlying the humour, and how?

Read more: allmalepanels.tumblr.com