I rarely feel the need to respond to yet another old white man making the same drab arguments used for eons to keep women out of the conversation and out of our public sphere. But I am angry. In his recent article, ‘Beware the politics of statue-erection‘ (CW 24 June 2021, p10), Mr Humphries attacked three things I feel strongly about. Art, feminism, and the truth. He also personally called me out. I feel the need to respond.

There is so much bait in this burley of a piece that it’s difficult to know where to begin. I’ll start with Mr Humphries crowing that when it comes to achievement, “men predominate in this category because they have achieved more.” This is a self-assured statement from a man who felt the need to use the word “erection” three times in a 500-word op-ed on statues about women. I don’t want to lower the tone, but it’s pretty uncouth to attack a feminist with one’s verbal erections. It’s also psychologically revealing.

Some men may believe that they’ve earned all their appointments on merit. No doubt no one ever presumed they were at the big meeting to bring the coffee or take the notes. For women reading this, most of us share the experience of being talked over, ogled, having our great ideas stolen or being discredited by male colleagues. Even in 2021, standing up for ourselves comes with a risk to our reputation. Just ask Brittany Higgins.

The thing about statues is that they tell a story – not so much about the people they depict, but about society at a given time. For thousands of years, they have celebrated the people and ideas that we said were important. But they were used to celebrate a very small slice of life. The art world is now consciously choosing a different set of tales because we were missing out on more than half the story.

Anyone with art in their soul knows it’s time to call on the voices of women, queer people, migrants, multicultural people, First Nations peoples and those with a disability. We have always existed – in fact, we are the majority – and we have always done grand and interesting things. But our stories were not told because old white men wrote the history. It’s time to fix that.

Mr Humphries says, “If the argument is that an act of positive discrimination is needed to inspire women, the MLAs may have a point.” Yes, we can’t be what we can’t see, and it’s important to show us what’s possible. But unfortunately, this misses the point. We are already doing worthy things. Those things aren’t recognised. If we don’t commemorate them in a form that lasts hundreds of years, then we, like our mothers and grandmothers before us, will be lost and all that will remain are bronze statues of old white men.

• Jo Clay MLA, Member for Ginninderra, ACT Greens spokesperson for Women, Arts and Culture, Transport, Active Travel and Road Safety, Parks and Conservation, Animal Welfare and the Circular Economy