I get that about you feel like your voice isn't heard cos all the men just club together and chat then think they've done the job.
My place isn't perfect but that doesn't happen too often. There are a lot of strong women and it's as likely that a group of them, or even just a mixed group with a common interest, will get together and make decisions.
I've deliberately started just putting myself forward. If I think there's a job that needs doing, then I go to whoever will be in charge and say 'I can do that'. I'm not rude or pushing, but I won't sit around and wait for them to ask for volunteers, I get there first. There's a job I'd like to do here which isn't even a recognised 'job' yet, but I reckon that if I keep pushing things in the right direction, if/when someone (me) suggests that really they need to pay someone and give them the title for doing this job, then I will be the obvious candidate, because I'm already doing it.
I just see that as good career progression, but of course you have to be in the right place at the right time to even create those opportunites.
Vezzie - think about how capitalism works. Of course you only get paid just enough to keep you in the job, that is how the system works. Which means it isn't you, it's how our economies are structured. Companies need to make the most profit and to squeeze every last drop of work out, but without quite pissing you off enough to walk.
There's a lot of Marxism that can be adapted into feminism.