When we had women-only spaces: A nostalgia thread

[EmpressLesbianInChair]

I came out as lesbian in London in the late 90s.

I remember women-only discos, Cherries at the Minories & the mammoth Girls on Top in Hemel Hempstead.

I remember the Glass Bar by Euston station, a small brick women-only bar run by the amazing Elaine, with armchairs & sofas & board games & a lavishly decorated toilet, where there were comedy nights & music nights.

I remember Silver Moon Books, and the women’s discussion group at Gay’s the Word, and message boards and book clubs that were all female.

Anyone else?

No, I don't think that's necessary. All you need is enough women who want to get together in women's space and the money and energy to set something up. You can form a club or society (association) that's only open to people with any single protected characteristic (except if the PC is race you're not allowed to base that on skin colour). You don't have to demonstrate proportionate means or legitimate aim with associations. There are lots of men's clubs. They are perfectly legal.

Sure, you could set up a private club. Such things exist, for women and men.

But if most people think they are inherently sexist or discriminatory, there will always be pressure for them to open up, and many people simply won't be interested in them. A relative social consensus that spaces should be mixed is going to have an effect, people simply won't value separate kinds of environments much.

The third sector is fucked. There seems to be no way for a charity to survive these days without writing endless bids for funding which always comes with strings and most of it is either directly government controlled or one or two steps away (lottery, children in need, comic relief etc.)

This is an interesting point.
I certainly know people who come from a more conservative political background who would say this is an outcome of moving private charitable support away from individuals and instead funding it through taxes.

There are reasons for supporting the latter approach - it should theoretically result in more stable funding for important work by interest groups. But the effect is that the groups that get funded will tend to be ones that are in line with the philosophy of the government, and more than that, the government may not be able to fund things that seem to support certain positions that are disallowed by anti-discrimination or other legislation - like exclusive sex based spaces that exist for cultural reasons.

They could, theoretically, still be funded by private donation, but when people's money is going to taxes which the government then directs to charity, some of that capacity for the non-wealthy to donate is lost.

I have to say, this is a perspective I've tended to dismiss, but maybe without sufficient thought. I know that in the charitable organisations I work with, there is a huge amount of time that goes into securing funding through grants and other government sources - it would be interesting to see how much they pay out in wages for every grant dollar. Donations from private sources can, on the other hand, add up very quickly and without nearly the same baggage.

In the end I am not even sure government grants are really more stable funding.

I was in my first term at Leeds University when Peter Sutcliffe murdered the student Jackie Hill 200 yards from my student residence. The uni put on a women’s safety minibus to bring women safely home when they’d been out for the evening.

Having moved 200 miles from home and living alone for the first time, I probably wouldn’t have gone out at all without this service.

FamilyOfAliens I was in Sheffield at a similar time. We were given high frequency sound alarms to carry by SU, I think. We had Self Defence for Women classes. For women, by women. Sheffield also had a lovely women only Turkish Baths.

I think the community responded really well to ensuring the safety of women at a time when many of us were living in constant fear.

I can’t imagine such a service would be able to run now, without being accused of transphobia 🙄

We had a service at my college for getting people home, but it would take anyone - I think that might be the way to go for that kind of thing. Mostly women used it, but occasionally we'd take home young fellows who were too inebriated to go safely on their own. Which I think was also useful.

But if most people think they are inherently sexist or discriminatory, there will always be pressure for them to open up, and many people simply won't be interested in them. A relative social consensus that spaces should be mixed is going to have an effect, people simply won't value separate kinds of environments much.

I'm not really bothered if many people are simply uninterested. Just as long as those women who are interested are allowed to get on and create the spaces they want without interference.

If other people don't like it they can set up their own club.

It wasn't an actual set place, but an office I worked in that was entirely women about 10 years ago was brilliant. The team dynamics were perfect; everyone loved their jobs and was good at them, and I felt completely safe and part of a lovely female community. I miss it.

When I saw this thread I googled the Women's Therapy Centre in

When I saw this thread I was prompted to Google the Women's Therapy Centre in London (founded by feminist therapists Susie Orbach and Luise Eichenbuam in 1976). Very sad to see that it's permanently closed.

Sheffield also had a lovely women only Turkish Baths.

Harogate has beautiful Turkish Baths & used to have closed single sex sessions.

I'm not really bothered if many people are simply uninterested. Just as long as those women who are interested are allowed to get on and create the spaces they want without interference. If other people don't like it they can set up their own club.

But if that was all there was to it, wouldn't there still be these places?

I know the tendency here is to think that trans issues are the main reason they have become rare, but I don't think that's really the case. I think they became rare even before that.

Absolutely it's not just trans issues that have caused women's spaces to become rare. The 90's and 00's seem to have been wilderness years for feminism for a variety of (connected) reasons.

Nevertheless there's a whole new women's movement growing now and there seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for rebuilding what we had.

We can do it.

We had a service at my college for getting people home, but it would take anyone - I think that might be the way to go for that kind of thing.

At the time when Peter Sutcliffe was murdering women seemingly with impunity, I can’t imagine anyone would have considered it a good idea to set up a service for everyone, when it was clearly women who were most at risk. Jackie Hill was murdered walking home from a seminar at 9 in the evening ffs.

I'm an old bird and I loved the women only spaces of yesteryear. Girls school with no male teachers. Ladies' waiting rooms at the train station. Then in my 20s the London clubs and women-only nights where you felt safe to let your hair down and have a great night out without being hassled by men.

Also The Sanctuary, Porchester Baths, the ladies' pond, where women were guaranteed a male-free environment. I remember most of all the laughter. Happy days.