To pour or not to pour?

Last night a group of 7 female lecturers and senior postdocs went out for some celebrations following my promotion to professor. The group included both UK and international scientists, 2 lecturers (with varying experience), 1 reader and 1 professor (elect) and 3 senior research scientists who don't have a teaching role. There were many interesting discussions, both work related and otherwise. However, one that came up was the issue of interacting with our male colleagues in the semi-formal environment of conferences and meetings. Experiences included being the only person not introduced to the group by the senior male colleague, some people uncomfortable with the idea of shaking hands with women (we *hope* this is soon to be a thing of the past in the UK as it seems to be a generational thing - in other cultures this may not be the case), and being mistaken for a secretary rather than a research scientist. Several in the group also reported the difficulty of looking "youthful and girly" although being senior scientist in the group, and the issues with being taken seriously. Colleagues with substantial fraction of grey hair, or large physical presence were felt to be taken more seriously even if their experience and skills were the same as, or lesser than, our own. An excellent related post and discussion can be found at the FemaleScienceProfessor blog.

One colleague made the point that she never, ever pours the tea or coffee at a meeting where male colleagues are dominant, on principle. Talking to my other half this morning, he felt this was an over-reaction (he has in the past worked in an environment with 2 men in a department of 17 women and had to put up with inappropriate labels concerning his sexuality as a result). I am not sure - but I suspect I end up pouring tea and coffee and sorting out immediate domestic issues at meetings more often than some of my male colleagues... so.. would you pour or not????