CHEER up love, it might never happen.

Oh dear, it already has. Sir Tim Hunt, a Nobel laureate no less, is the latest knight to fall on his sword in the sexism wars. Having told a conference in South Korea all about his "trouble with girls", Sir Tim has had a heap of grief in return and has resigned from his honorary professorship at University College, London. One is tempted to send him a bunch of flowers in consolation, or dispense a consolatory pat on the rump, or would that be out of order too?

It is all so tricky, you see. Or is it, according to some. In case you have not heard, there is now a jungle of political correctness out there in which the unwary, usually men, but occasionally women, can be found bumbling along quite happily, sniffing the pawpaws and minding their own business. Then one day someone steps in a bear trap laid by some humourless feminist and it is all over bar the howling. Once snared, the victim's only way out is to gnaw off a limb in penance, sever themselves from their job, and apologise.

Let us catalogue some of the unwary travellers to have come a cropper this week. First, Sir Tim, who felt that women in labs were a bother because men fell in love with them, women reciprocate, and it all ends in (women's) tears. He acknowledged that making the comments was "a very stupid thing to do" in front of such an audience - it was the World Conference of Science Journalists - he was sorry to have caused offence, but he "just meant to be honest".

Next comes India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who congratulated his Bangladesh counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, on her security strategy thus: "I am happy that the Bangladesh prime minister, despite being a woman, has declared zero tolerance for terrorism." Immediately the mob picked up the social media equivalent of pitchforks, a hashtag on Twitter, and began lampooning Mr Modi's remark.

Now on to the US, where a male film reviewer at the New York Daily Post is in the stocks for arguing that women just don't get the mob picture Goodfellas ("To a woman, the GoodFellas are lowlifes. To guys, they're hilarious, they're heroes"). Meanwhile, Jerry Seinfeld, of the titular TV show fame, says fellow comedians warned him off playing colleges because they were so "PC". Still in America, our own First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, had to take time out from her round of Daily Show and IMF appearances to defend her predecessor against the charge of making a sexist comment when he told Anna Soubry, a UK minister, to "behave yourself, woman". Mr Salmond did not have a sexist bone in his body, said Ms Sturgeon.

Yes, there is a world of pain out there. But victims should not fear, for a backlash is gathering force. In the pages of newspapers and on internet message boards, in the pub and in the office, whether loudly or sotto voce, some have taken to asking whether all this complaining about sexist remarks has gone too far. There is talk of "feminist bullies" who, having hounded several prominent men from their jobs, will not rest until they have every man Jack out there singing from the same politically correct hymn sheet. It is all about free speech they argue, the right to say what one wishes without being shouted down. And for God's sake, they mutter to themselves, get a sense of humour.

How much house room should be given to such views? Despite being a woman, may I respectfully suggest the tiniest, dankest, corner in the furthest reaches of the attic, the kind of spot that is currently home to all the rest of the mould-spattered junk no one in their right mind wants any more. Feminist bullies? The notion is beyond risible. It suggests that women have already won the war against sexism and are ruthlessly pressing home their advantage. It conjures up images of cowering men afraid to utter the most innocuous comment. It implies that standing up for oneself can only be done by crushing others. It makes a mockery of what feminism is about. How depressing, how supremely, tush-numbingly tiresome that this should have to be said yet again.

When it comes to free expression it can sometimes seem as if we live in an age of extremes. Some want to keep the lid on tight, others demand the right to let it all hang out, especially on the internet. There is another, more civilised way, and most sensible people find it on their own, either through personal experience, or from listening to the views of others. Some, alas, have more trouble telling right from wrong. Strange, because it is blindingly simple really. One does not need to be a Nobel laureate to work it out. To wit: treat others as you would wish to be treated. No-one wants to be belittled, disrespected, made to feel unequal, inadequate or ashamed. Sexist remarks do just that, so why should they be dismissed as harmless banter?

True, there are many more serious matters confronting women than being the subject of thoughtless or cruel remarks but, being famously multi-tasking, we can tackle more than one irritant and injustice at a time. Every sexist remark is but the rotten cherry on the top of a heap of rancid attitudes and practices. Start at the top and the nastier stuff underneath will be easier to shift.

As for sense of humour failures, it depends what one thinks is funny. It is not always easy for women to mine giggles from working lives in which they have to toil twice as hard to make half the progress of men, all the while being paid two thirds of what their male counterparts earn. It is particularly difficult for women working in science to find equal opportunities, as Sir Tim ought to have known. From school to university to lab, women have to fight their way into science and keep slugging away, day after day, one research grant application after another, to be taken as seriously as men.

If women and men had anything approaching equality we could all chuckle to our hearts' content about the bad old days of discrimination. Remember when women were underpaid for work of equal value? When their bodies were exploited and commented on as a matter of routine? When they got the sticky end of the lollipop when it came to promotion, childcare, housework? What larks. Thank goodness those days are gone.

But they are far from gone. They are not even in the same continent as gone. Which is why we should all, men and women, take pride in calling out sexist claptrap when we see it. What would be more shocking is if we did not draw attention to it, if we laughed along uneasily the way our mothers and grandmothers too often had to. We don't have to, we don't want to, so we won't. If that causes mild distress in parts of the Jurassic Park where sexist dinosaurs still roam, the poor loves can always take their own advice and calm down, dears.