Matt in the Telegraph had yet another of his brilliant cartoons the other day. Two old codgers are standing at the bar and one says “I had no idea women’s pension age had been increased, no one mentioned it at the Garrick”. Which is not just funny but illustrates the point that all mens clubs are anachronistic bastions of male interest and power. The fact that the heads of the Civil Service and MI6 have both resigned from the club after their membership was leaked to The Guardian makes the point even more clearly.
This Guardian campaign conflates 2 issues, equality and the legitimacy of single sex spaces.
Single sex clubs are not unlawful. A quick Google search shows there are numerous women only clubs in London.
On Eventbrite the other day I had quite a job looking for tickets for an event and in the process of searching was struck by the numbers of interesting but women only events.
Women only events are often explicitly for the purpose of networking.
So there is nothing at all inconsistent with being a member of a single sex club and also promoting equalities policies.
Campaigners are in fact explicit that the issue they take with the Garrick is that the men who are members are influential. It follows, it is said, that this is a bastion of patriarchy which must be stormed.
As Gaby Hinsliff wrote in the Guardian this week:
"When men wonder why women won’t just let them have their cosy little clubs in peace, one answer is that we fear the mentality those cosy little clubs can sometimes produce."
Or as the barrister Karon Monaghan wrote, also in the Guardian, members of the judiciary who are members of the Garrick should disqualify themselves from hearing discrimination and rape cases.
I know nothing about the Garrick or its members. But I wonder how much of this is based on evidence?
There is a clear double standard here suggesting that men only spaces are suspect and need to be policed by women. Such reverse sexism should not be accepted at face value.
Terrific blast, Jonty
This Guardian campaign conflates 2 issues, equality and the legitimacy of single sex spaces.
Single sex clubs are not unlawful. A quick Google search shows there are numerous women only clubs in London.
On Eventbrite the other day I had quite a job looking for tickets for an event and in the process of searching was struck by the numbers of interesting but women only events.
Women only events are often explicitly for the purpose of networking.
So there is nothing at all inconsistent with being a member of a single sex club and also promoting equalities policies.
Campaigners are in fact explicit that the issue they take with the Garrick is that the men who are members are influential. It follows, it is said, that this is a bastion of patriarchy which must be stormed.
As Gaby Hinsliff wrote in the Guardian this week:
"When men wonder why women won’t just let them have their cosy little clubs in peace, one answer is that we fear the mentality those cosy little clubs can sometimes produce."
Or as the barrister Karon Monaghan wrote, also in the Guardian, members of the judiciary who are members of the Garrick should disqualify themselves from hearing discrimination and rape cases.
I know nothing about the Garrick or its members. But I wonder how much of this is based on evidence?
There is a clear double standard here suggesting that men only spaces are suspect and need to be policed by women. Such reverse sexism should not be accepted at face value.