Hi,
I have name changed for this one.
I have joined the committee for the Women’s network at work (charity). I attended my first meeting today. I’m torn. There was at least one natal male on the Teams meeting from my observation, possibly two. We spoke about topics for the group to tackle over the year (menopause, breast/chest(!) feeding, miscarriage etc), some of the group shared personal examples on all of these topics. We spoke about organising an informational event for International Women’s Day. The EDI team representative spoke about inclusivity (great) but also spoke about CIS people, and how the word “women” includes many different types of people. Red flag for me. I want people to feel supported but the presence of natal male people in any discussion groups in the future is not inclusive for many women.
Do I stay on the committee and try to influence? Or do I give up? A lot of women don’t want to discuss female only issues in the presence of natal men no matter how lovely they might appear.
I love my job, I don’t need it for the income but I really want to stand up for the rights of natal women and girls.
What would you do?