to hate "ladies events"

[FriedaRoam]

race for life
ladies days at races
pamper evenings

jsut all make me ITCH

Totally agree with OP re candles, ann summmers, fucking silicone bakewear party SHIT.

OH YES IT'S LADIES NIGHT
AND THE FEELING'S RIGHT
OH WHAT A NIGHT

OH WHAT A NIGHT

HERE COMES THE GIRRRRRLS

white zinfandel, natch.

Can someone actually tell me what the ARSE 'BFF' actually means.

If it stands for Best Friend Forever I am actually going to kill myself.

Better hide the sharp knives then vetoed

Bloody iPad.... Getorf

Hmmm is your new moniker a protest against being blackballed...

lol at vetoed

Christ words who blackballed me, what have I missed?

Namechange: was on a contraversial thread so didn't want to be searched by my old name.

My friend goes to "ladies days" with her church. I think it's the name I find most odd.
Then when she invites a few friends around to hers for a get together ( perhaps watch a DVD or one of her famous chocolate fountain evenings ) she calls it a "ladies evening"
They're great, so perhaps I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth -
But why not call it a chocolate fountain or DVD night - or just say would you like to come over to watch X !

Don't get me started on chocolate fountains, some fecker brought us one as a wedding present it's gathering dust as we speak

why assume that 'women only' things are about candles and bakeware and pinkness?

the last womens only event i did was a women's free ride mountain bike event - it was fab.
the reason it was women only was because normally the more extreme end of mountain biking (Free ride park and downhill trails) are VERY testosterone-dominated and generally very intimidating to women. Mostly the free ride park is dominated by fearless insane 16yo boys.
the womens-only event had participants from 14yo up to 40yo and it was the most fun and supportive event ever. we all rode stuff that was super scary and cheered each other on.

in a men's event you get a bit of a 'i can jump higher than you' competitive event, but in the womens events you get 'if i can jump that high, you can too' and although we're compeitive we're competing against oursleves to get better and better rather than against each other. the results were superb.

i still mostly ride with a mixed group, but my riding improves so much when i do a 'girls only' day or weekend.

some women probably feel the same about a race for life, they're too scared to run in a 'normal' 5k race and worry they'll be last and laughed at but feel supported in a race for life.

I have done race for life twice but don't see why it is women only. Cancer affects both men and women. If a woman is happy to run/walk 5k in public, surrounded by thousands of spectators (of both genders) and other participants, then why would she be initmidated if men are also walking/running? Even if half of the potential female participants were so horrified/embarrassed by the idea of having to take part in the same event as men that they decided to give it a miss, that would be compensated for by the number male participants who would be able to enter.

Isn't it a bit patronising to say that women would be initimidated by having men entering? Some of the women racers are superfit and aiming to win, others are unfit and find it a big challenge to walk the 5k, and then there are lots of joggers in the middle. If men entered then it would be the same - many of the potential male entrants would be unfit, have disabilities or be recovering from cancer themselves. The race could still have the same non-competitive and inclusive ethos.

As for the 10k race being open to men - 10k is more difficult than 5k and not all men could do 10k, especially if they have a disability, are older or are recovering from cancer. Again it is patronising to make the longer, more challenging distance unisex while only allowing women for the more accessible race.

I suppose when my friend goes to her church "ladies day" it does mean Dad has the kids for a day and she gets a bit of a break. So, I can see in a way it is some sort of limited progress. But why not mention what the theme of the day is ... I don't know ... "the good samaritan" or whatever. You wouldn't get a group of men going to an event and calling it a "men's day" would you ? - with no other mention of what would be happening !

The only ladies night type things I go to are playschool nights out.... but we do invite any men that are about the playschool a lot but I think the female dominated atmosphere puts off the few dads that are in and out of the playschool a lot.

I was very a couple of years ago when the mother of a little boy turned up.... most of us had never seen her before as her husband does all the picking up/dropping off/days out/Christmas events/etc but for some reason despite us telling him about the night out, she turned up Erm... it's a night out for those of us who see each other around playschool and toddler group a lot... not for 'the mummies'!

Race for life annoys me too.... imagine a cancer charity holding a 'men only' event? There'd be uproar.

I do see your point fluffles, withput wanting to be picky though I think it is slighlty patronising to assume that all women would be intimidated by competing in a testosteroney male dominated sport, some women I think would relish the challenge. Some women me are competitive arseholes same as some blokes. If someone did a massive jump I wouldn't be encouraging and supportive in a cliched female way, I would think 'damn'.

Mind you I have no idea why I am commenting on mountain bike events when I can't even ride a fucking pushbike

not all women melpomene and getorf - definately not, i compete in small running club races even though i'm not fast and i do risk coming last in those events (where as i'd be top 10% in a race for life) but the truth is that prior to the race for life movement, the representation of women in running/jogging events was down at around 20% or less.

Many, many women do a race for life when they're not sure they can jog the whole way. they feel ok about this cause others are walking and it's a supportive event. whereas in a 'club' 5k, the slower runners are generally still in by about 30mins, so if you walked at all you'd be way last. these women then go on to realise they CAN run/jog and often work their way up through other races to half marathons etc.

Fact is that most men are faster runners than most women. This applies at begginer level as well as elite, though obviously MANY women can beat many men.

The guys who came along to Air Maiden (Mountain bike freeride day) with their partners were really envious and said they'd LOVE to do something similar and wan't it amazing what we were all acheiving.. but then the organisers tried to do a similar day for men on the free ride and it was cancelled due to lack of interest.

Me too, and I DETEST the phrase "Girlie Night"! My friend is always trying to organise "girlie nights" gah!

You all DETEST girls' nights, ladies' nights, women-only events....but apparently you love mumsnet!!

Yeah, but you could all be blokes for all I know

Hmm, not sure I agree actually.

I really like going out in the evening just with my girlfriends. I like going out in mixed groups too, but I do really enjoy spending time in all female groups.

However, I dont like organised "laydeez" events, mainly because they tend to be a bit pink and annoying- e.g. mandatory lame sex props and forced craziness. Ladies Days at racing have got totally out of hand- they never used to exist in jump racing (e.g. Aintree where orange is always in fashion). It's just a money spinner to get a bigger crowd for the midweek days.

Women who want to compete in competitive runs can and do.

Race for Life is, actually I don't know what it is, but it's not a race. It's running for non-runners, while feeling all fluffy and solidarity and other worthy but boak-worthy things.

Still think it's mad that little boys are allowed to join in but not big boys - was I right then that it's about childcare? It's not generally a concern for any other event, is it?

Race for life - 5k
Run 10k - 10k (obviously)!

Not interchangeable - you need to be able to run twice as far.

Maybe this is sexist.

You are right trill will copy link from cancer research so you can see it

Race for Life is, actually I don't know what it is, but it's not a race. It's running for non-runners, while feeling all fluffy and solidarity and other worthy but boak-worthy things.

It's an opportunity for the participants to extort money from friends and colleagues for walking at moderate pace for 40 minutes. If you refuse to pay then you are "cancer loving scum".