women at Girton College Cambridge aren’t allowed 1 hour out of 83 hours to swim in a female only environment

I swim alot, and have done for years, at many pools, public and private. I've never seen any evidence of male harrassment. Ever.
And as a fat old woman, I don't care what people think of me. Why should I buy into what concept anyone else has about what my body should look like? Why can't posters see that normalising these concerns, by saying they are rational, is harmful to women? I really think that Feminism is going backwards.

'Non-binary' grants access all areas. It means whatever the individual claiming the identity wishes it to mean eg claim identity of both sexes or neither.
If policies continue to include non-binary then there cannot be sex-based rights or spaces.

so something like hampstead ponds,
one male pond
one female
one mixed

Actually, unless my memory is faulty, I believe it’s

One Male
One mixed
One Female and anyone who self identifies as female at any time, so mixed

They say also that the "women and non binary hour" in the gym and pool has "largely been respected".

How the fuck do they know whether the people in theer identify as women or non binary????????????

If they are asking them all then they would have told any who didn't say female or non binary to come back later.

I think they arLOOKING at them and ASSUMING THEIR GENDERS well fuck me that's disgusting.

"A male student reportedly waited outside the gym during the allotted period in protest against the session, according to the student news site The Tab."

lol

what a complete dick

he can go in

that't the whole point!

when mras catch onto what this means more widely, they are going to have an absulte ball.

Yes, men are moaning about losing one hour a week - but they are not the ones who defaced the poster. That was clearly a Gender critical woman

Do you have any evidence of that? The report refers to a male student.

I can't see anything which says Girton is giving in to his demands.

I thought you were taking this thread in a whole new direction.

Errol - typo?

Ahem. A few single sex sessions.

I mean take it up with the chaps who go to the chaps pond if you wish.

I think they would NOT be keen to have women in with them.

Why change something that has value to people, to certain communities?

lucydo

so something like hampstead ponds,
one male pond
one female
one mixed

you say no make them all mixed?

can you see no reasons why men, or women, might value time with only their own sex, at leisure, for multiple reasons?

"I'm really pissed off my health suite have stopped male/ female only sessions. I don't feel comfortable being in such close proximity to nearly naked men (far closer than swimming) and the fact almost no women use that facility any more says it all."

And thus public spaces are handed back to the male, where they always belonged.

Girton hasn't been women only for about 30 years...

Errol - typo?

I don't think it's a reasonable feeling to not be comfortable swimming with men in the pool

Back in the pre-DC days when I looked vaguely OK in a swimsuit I used to go to a ladies' swimming session, but it was always really busy and crowded. So one night I went when the pool was open to anyone. Big mistake. It was a changing-village set up but with separate men's and women's areas - which the men were completely ignoring. Getting changed in a locked cubicle with men nearby didn't bother me - but the fact that they ignored the signs saying it was the women's area made me wonder what other boundaries they didn't respect.

Anyway, when I actually ventured the pool it was just horrible - crowds of men in the spa pool staring at every woman who walked past - literally following us with their eyes, and I was wolf-whistled at and just generally ogled and leered at. In short I found out why the ladies night was so busy!

Now I haven't been to that pool in years - things might have changed since then - and as a middle-aged woman I am less likely to be leered at nowadays. And of course NAMALT. But as a young woman I never went back to the mixed swimming at that pool. Was it really unreasonable of me not to want to get leered at and catcalled when I already felt self-conscious in my swimsuit? And I'm not from "a conservative culture" FFS.

Until ALL men learn to behave themselves in that setting I will support the right of young women to go for a swim without being harassed.

I used to go to a 'ladies' swimming session years ago - I've never been abused, don't in general mind mixed activities - but having gone once because the time was convenient and 'safe' (not too late in the evening), I preferred it because it was just nicer, calmer.

A lot of young women, of all shapes and sizes, are self-conscious about their bodies - it does put quite a lot off physical activity. A few sex sessions (I would be in favour of some for the chaps too) just give more options.

one of my local pool has a women only session and it is extremely popular.

Including amongst middle aged white women who feel uncomfortable that they have not been able to maintain Elle McPherson bodies. Indeed swimming is about the best exercise for those who need to lose substancial ammounts of weight - people for whom wearing a swimming costume, even at women only sessions is a major step.

I swim a lot, and TBH I would love that my gym had women only sessions. Women tend to be so much politer than men, and it is rarely much fun when a man is steaming up and down a shared lane, almost trying to provie how much faster he is.

Feminism should be about having some balls

That seems to be an unfortunate turn of phrase

Feminism should be about enabling women to have more choices and options than they would do other wise. Berating them for not having enough balls isn't very helpful, imo. It's also totally ignoring the fact that many women are harassed by men in their daily lives, feel vulnerable when doing an activity like swimming and might only feel able to participate in a single sex environment. It's pretending that we live in a perfect world and women are just weird or useless if they would prefer single sex sessions.

what's fake equality?

Should it? I'm not interested in fake equality. I'd like women to have a bit of space and the freedom to make their own decisions.

that's OK, go ahead, join the protest, but I honestly think that when we think it's normal (which is what you seem to be saying) not to swim because there are men in the pool, it is like wilfully going back to the victorian era.
Didn't women fight to decades to free themselves from these kinds of attitudes?
Yes, I can see why, in the categories that you've mentioned of abused women, that this might not be the case. But I've already said that and posters have chosen to ignore that I've said it.
But other women? No. In the past mixed swimming was seen as wrong and inappropriate, we should not be normalising a return to that attitude. Feminism should be about having some balls.

and the difference between a non binary identified person and 90% of people that they would label as "cis" is purely down to levels of self interest.

i could firmly wedge myself beneath the trans umbrella should i so wish.

i know what you mean re regression - it was one of the reasons I was appalled when Jeremy Corbyn a while ago floated single sex tube carriages as an idea for combating increasing levels of assault on the underground. it seemed to remove responsibility from men to do better. (he has since unlearned what sex actually is apparently)

however i don't think encouraging women from conservative cultures or abusive relationships to participate in the life of this country is the same as pandering to those cultures / situations. by definition if a woman is from a conservative culture / abusive relationship she will have very little power so pandering to her is pointless. including her however is not and has many benefits for everyone. inclusion does not have to imply 100% agreement with all of her culture or situation. it can be the vital link these women need.

one of my local pool has a women only session and it is extremely popular. imagine the women there have varied reasons for wanting to attend. i don't think it is a lot to ask.

I don't think that we should pander to conservative cultures

I dont think girls are the ones who set the rules in conservative cultures.