Women only playbarn

[blackcats73]

I just wondered what everyone thinks of the following story;

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2185041/Fathers-banned-play-centres-women-decree.html

I sort of understand the women only rule but boys over 9????? Though my Ds (8)is outgrowing playbarns anyway.

Some of the comments (yes I know it's the Daily Mail) from both sides are offensive.

Sorry, not a very coherent post. I'm still trying to work out what I think.

idiots. Would have made more sense to maybe just have selected woman only sessions, like in swimming pools, if they wanted to cater for the (probably small) minority of muslim women who might be uncomfortable.,

Blatant discrimination. Let's see if the Equality Act lives up to its name.

I liked the comment about how men can't help being competitive. Ah yes, in the soft play setting this is a common problem

Personally I see only a very weak justification based on their local demographic - they've unilaterally decided what all Muslim women think? That's nice of them. They have equated Asian with Muslim? Why?

I could perhaps see some logic if this was a Women's Resource Centre (with funding allocated appropriately) with a play area attached. If the argument is to allow Muslim women to uncover their faces, then the same logic might apply to a Muslim Women's facility. This is neither but a commercial venue.

Btw, all these comments are based on anything in the story actually being true, which, given its source, does not seem overly likely.

I think it's disgraceful, and blatent discrimination, for a commercial soft play centre to have a blanket ban on men and boys over 9 years old.

If they're concerned that some women may be uncomfortable with men being there, why not make some of the sessions women only, and allow men and older boys in the rest of the time?

The BBC's also reporting on this story BTW, so looks like it's true.

Father play centre ban

Why is the much-vaunted Market not being mentioned here? Usually we get to hear all about the Market, and how the Market is always right. If there is a market for this, in the area, how is the market not right this time?

Why are women-only sessions so much less discriminatory? It's the same principle, only some of the time.

I used to live in an area where the local pool did women-only swimming some evenings. I loved it. I can imagine enjoying women-only play areas too. When I was heavily pregnant, with spd and a toddler, I was sick to death of finding that my strategically placed chair, which I had left to wipe a nose or something, had a man in it when I painfully lumbered back. Women didn't do shit like that. (to me. Personal experience only, not intended as a generalisation on human-kind)

I understand that "I would like it" is not a finely honed political argument, but what the hell, don't care right now.
If the men in the area are very hurt and left out about this, let's see them arguing about why they want to go there. Are there any father's lobbying groups about this? Or do they not really care?

Banning men all the time seems a bit much.
Men only / women only sessions would be fine IMO.

"Why are women-only sessions so much less discriminatory?"

They aren't.

"I used to live in an area where the local pool did women-only swimming some evenings. I loved it. I can imagine enjoying women-only play areas too. When I was heavily pregnant, with spd and a toddler, I was sick to death of finding that my strategically placed chair, which I had left to wipe a nose or something, had a man in it when I painfully lumbered back. Women didn't do shit like that. (to me. Personal experience only, not intended as a generalisation on human-kind)"

Was the chair your personal property?

"If the men in the area are very hurt and left out about this, let's see them arguing about why they want to go there. Are there any father's lobbying groups about this? Or do they not really care?"

A group of men stating they want to play with their kids, in today's society?

They may as well tatto 'Ian Huntley Fan Club' on their foreheads.

Oh HONESTLY Helxi!

Normal people don't think fathers are child murderers!

It's also normally not done to nick a disabled pregnant woman's chair - not around here anyway!

Where on earth do you live? It sounds bloody awful! I'm so glad I'm not anywhere near there!

"Oh HONESTLY Helxi!

Normal people don't think fathers are child murderers!"

Many a 'normal' person is a tabloid-reader with an IQ that wouldn't trouble three digits. If you asked them to name a a famous child molester I'd bet you £50 that the majority would respond with "Ian Huntely". These 'normal' people are the kind of ignorant half-wits who attack kiddie-fiddling paediatricians. Yes, they are really that stupid.

Why do you think there are so few male primary school teachers? The reason is they s**t themselves at the thought of being accused of 'inappropriate contact', which is the ill-informed background suspicion that lingers over much man-to-child contact, thanks to the tabloid media fostering headline-producing hysteria.

"It's also normally not done to nick a disabled pregnant woman's chair - not around here anyway!"

Did they know the chair was her property (so far unestablished)? Did they refuse to move from the chair despite her requests? You somehow seem to know the anwsers to these questions. I guess there must be a reply post by vezzie I can't see...

"Where on earth do you live? It sounds bloody awful!"

England. There's room for improvement.

Right so you think that a reasonable large tract of the public in England would genuinely believe that a fathers group existed for fathers to get together and murder their own/each others children. I see.

Our local church has a group for men to get together and chat and guess what there are no groups of women kicking up a fuss and no-one trying to get them banned on the basis that they must be evil.

I have to say I find your view of our country disturbingly warped.

*reasonably

I am not sure that engaging with someone with such a terribly odd view of our country is the right thing to do. Do you get out much? Most people in the UK are perfectly fine, normal, polite, law-abiding types. I think it would do you good to go out and mix a bit. Pubs are a good place to start - find a quiet one and sit yourself at the bar and before you know it you'll be making lots of new friends

"Right so you think that a reasonable large tract of the public in England would genuinely believe that a fathers group existed for fathers to get together and murder their own/each others children. I see.

I have to say I find your view of our country disturbingly warped. "

Nice strawman.

I think the fathers would be aware of possible negative media perception, that will be accepted, at least on some level, by 'ordinary' people. Ethnic minorities have already received a rather unpleasant tarring in the last few weeks regarding sexual abuse. Even if negative media is not generated the men may believe that their interference will unspokenly be perceived as something that is to be wary of.

Odd that a feminist can rant about the nebulous concepts such as 'the patriarchy' and the effects of 'social conditioning', but when a man describes a similarly hard-to-define situation that primarily affects men, he's dismissed.

Actually it's not odd, it's hypocrisy. And feminists wonder why they have such an uphill struggle.

"Our local church has a group for men to get together and chat and guess what there are no groups of women kicking up a fuss and no-one trying to get them banned on the basis that they must be evil."

In other words, a completely different and irrelevant situation to the one being discussed.

"*reasonably

I am not sure that engaging with someone with such a terribly odd view of our country is the right thing to do. Do you get out much? Most people in the UK are perfectly fine, normal, polite, law-abiding types. I think it would do you good to go out and mix a bit. Pubs are a good place to start - find a quiet one and sit yourself at the bar and before you know it you'll be making lots of new friends"

Ah, I see we've now descended from the irrelevant to the personal. Finished scrapping out the barrel yet, or is there more to come?

And did you find that invisible post by vizzie or did you just pull the certainty or your 'nicked chair' comment out of your [ahem]?

I don't know how long I can be bothered to post.
But still, for now, you said this:

""If the men in the area are very hurt and left out about this, let's see them arguing about why they want to go there. Are there any father's lobbying groups about this? Or do they not really care?"

A group of men stating they want to play with their kids, in today's society?

They may as well tatto 'Ian Huntley Fan Club' on their foreheads."

You said that today's society would imagine a group of men who wanted to go to a play centre with their children were murderers. It is there ^ see, where you wrote it

Oh Vezzie said that when she went to wipe a nose her chair was taken. What she said in her post clearly indicated that the chair was nicked - why else would she be annoyed? Unless of course you are assuming that she is totally unreasonable based on no evidence whatsoever.

Incidentally many people would of course offer the chair to the disabled pregnant woman anyway, if they had not actually seen that it was hers in the first place.
Some people OTOH are just arseholes

Am I the only one that finds it odd that someone supports a flat out ban on men in a playcentre because they had their chair nicked at some point?

And this is as much an issue for women as it is for men in terms of gender discrimination. If men are discouraged from taking some of the child care responsibility then it hinders women being perceived as something other then a baby-rearing machine.

I agree amybelle1990. It's a bizarre reason for not wanting men there. Nicking chairs isn't only done by men, either. I've had my chair nicked in playgroups before when only women were present.

Vezzie was saying that she personally enjoyed the women-only sessions at her local swimming pool.

I can't see anything wrong with that TBH. She has her reasons based on her own experiences and that is what she thinks.

Enjoying women-only sessions at a swimming pool, or anywhere else, is fine.

But there's a big difference between saying "No men allowed in the swimming pool / soft play centre on Wednesday because it's our women-only day" and "No men allowed in these facilities ever".

Yes I agree.

It seems a bit sad TBH. What if you wanted to organise your 4yr old birthday party there? Are they honestly saying that the child's dad couldn't go?

A group of men stating they want to play with their kids, in today's society?

They may as well tatto 'Ian Huntley Fan Club' on their foreheads.

There are quite a few 'dads and tots' groups round my way, nobody seems to have a problem with them. I think they're a great idea.

I think women only sessions are a good idea too but agree that making the entire premises women only is OTT.

Oh something was at the back of my mind as well.

"Why do you think there are so few male primary school teachers? The reason is they s**t themselves at the thought of being accused of 'inappropriate contact', which is the ill-informed background suspicion that lingers over much man-to-child contact, thanks to the tabloid media fostering headline-producing hysteria."

This:

male applicants to primary teaching up 50% due to recession

Men haven't been going into primary teaching because there were more lucrative, prestigious options. Now that we are in recession, the applications are up.

One wonders where the women who would have gone into primary school teaching will go now that positions are being taken by more men - but that's for another thread and the story whenever times are hard and men have trouble finding employment.

another article on the same thing

The idea is ridiculous. Both men and women should be able to take their kids to soft play. I usually go with my son and his dad and make a day of it. You can't exclude men because women don't feel comfortable. The underlying reasons for the women feeling uncomfortable need to be addressed. Segregation is not the way IMO.

This is the sort of thing that happens in countries where women have less rights than men.