There's something odd going on at the BBC and I can't decide if the cause of it is institutional ineptness, deliberate provocation, or something more insidious.

I've never been shy of banging on about the lack of women commentators on Newsnight Scotland.  All too often, we get an all bloke affair: I've lost count of the number of times this has happened and it was only after concerted criticism that a fleeting attempt was made to rectify matters.

Indeed, we even had one programme where every single person involved was a woman.  Imagine.

Then, we had the stushie caused by the London lot, firstly in that not a single woman was deemed worthy of being shortlisted for Sports Personality of the Year.  Make no mistake, the only winner could have, should have been Mark Cavendish, the cyclist from the Isle of Man.  His achievements in 2011 were outstanding,but he also deserved to win, because unlike most of the other nominees, he actually has a personality.

But to invite the male-dominated world of sports journalism and to throw in a few lads' mags to boot to determine the shortlist beggars belief.  And to then allow a shortlist to be created that does not contain a single woman, thereby explicitly indicating that no woman is worthy of the honour, was frankly shocking.

The BBC wasn't finished yet.  It published a list of its female faces of the year for 2011 which managed to include several victims of crime or inappropriate male behaviour, a princess, a duchess, a popstar, a fallen angel, a fairytale dress designer (for a princess, natch), and a soldier who went on a date with a popstar.  Oh, and a panda.

The only woman included in the list for doing something empowering was the black woman who challenged the looters and rioters in London in the summer. 

The commentariat went doolally over the inclusion of "Sweetie", the female panda to arrive from China to form one half of Edinburgh's latest visitor attraction.

But take all the slights practised on one half of the population of the British isles by the state broadcaster together and it should be causing brows to furrow and explanations to be sought.

Ignoring for one moment that women pay the same licence fee as men do, and also setting aside the fact that as a public body the BBC is bound by the same sort of equality duties as local councils and the NHS, at any level, how can this inability to represent women fairly and equally in a whole host of ways be appropriate?

The way in which women are portrayed and treated in the media matters.  It matters that women are looked over or not sought out to provide comment or analysis of the big news stories of the day in Scotland;  it matters that the achievement of sportswomen is ignored, particularly when we know there is a gender deficit in sporting participation among young people (girls after about the age of 13 opt out much more than boys);  and it matters that the state broadcaster thinks it appropriate to provide a list of female faces of the year that hardly any women using their intelligence and talents to achieve extraordinary things that make our community, society and world a better place to live in.

Is there a glass ceiling in place that prevents women participating in the decision making on areas like this?  Have cuts done for the ability of internal influencers to make thoughtful and meaningful decisions?

Does nobody join up individual decisions to see the sum of the parts?  Has everyone just got very lazy?  Are the managers being deliberately provocative (after all, it's got people talking about the BBC)?

Or is there institutional sexism operating at the heart of the state broadcaster?

Whatever the reason, an inquiry is due.  The BBC at UK and regional (sic) level must be held accountable for its actions and decisions to exclude, humiliate and belittle one half of the population it was set up to serve.

An audit would be useful - let's flush out just how many women there are in the different spheres that comprise the Beeb who have any influence.

We know about the ones who make it to the top and who are trotted out to show how squeaky clean the broadcaster is on equal opps, but what about the rungs of the ladder that are hidden from view?

This is a job for the House of Commons culture, sport and media committee. Louise Mensch, the Conservative MP, has experienced sexism from the media firsthand: of all people, she should realise how important it is to shake out all the pieces of this puzzle, with a view to finding a better fit.

Better still, the men on that committee, who of course outnumber the women, should lead the charge.  The last thing we want is for the BBC's problem with women becoming seen and then dismissed as a women's issue.