Women's Centres

Women's groups and service that name themselves as groups or services for women, really, very much, need to ensure that they are for women. Otherwise, they are lying and setting women up to be abused by men who identify as women.

I’d make a point of using one if we had one. I had a single sex education and worked in a single sex organisation at one point. I love women-only institutions. Men have plenty of them.

We used to have the Women's Institute - WI - and my mother went to that, and most adult women in our villlage where I grew up. No men. But last I read, Women's Institute accepts men who identify as trans. So no fucking use any more for women.

I wonder if, as women’s position in society has gradually changed, many - particularly younger - women have come to see Women’s Centres as a bit irrelevant? A Google brings up three in my local-ish area: their focus seems to be on supporting vulnerable / marginalised / minority women, teaching women life skills and helping them with work experience, empowering them to speak out, advocating for women, family support, social groups etc. As a young(ish), white, educated, affluent, professional woman who doesn’t have any issues speaking her mind and has a well developed social network from a range of facets of my life, a Women’s Centre thus doesn’t seem like somewhere I’d need to go.

Perhaps if they really want to attract greater diversity of women attendees (and maybe they don’t) there needs to be a shift change in strategic thinking? More outward focus to attract women like me who would like opportunities to have a meeting space for genuinely likeminded women rather than something which seems to be a charitable effort?