Feminism and the WI

[FlamedToACrisp]

My friend suggested I should join the WI. I feel uncomfortable with the idea of joining any group which excludes certain people based on their sex, because I consider women and men should be treated equally. What are your views?

No idea if it is revenge but it's bloody tedious.

No idea if it is revenge but it's bloody tedious.

I know. Sad little dickheads with apparently nothing better to do.

but it's bloody tedious.

That it is.

We welcome any female over 18 or any person who identifies as a female.

We would be very pleased see you at one of our meetings.

I wouldn’t want to join the WI but that’s nit because of gender issues, feminism or whatever.

But I have no issue with female only groups. The reality is that having men there changes the dynamics. I’ve seen it at a book club I used to go to. Nice and lovely until one man joined in. The conversation suddenly changed, had a different tone (not helped by the fact he clearly thought he could just speak all the time):Cue for most of the women there to stop saying anything at all.

Female groups are the only place where some subjects such as how women are treated can be aired with no restriction. Put a man there and you can be sure to get the ‘But Not All Men’, having to justify yourself so you dint look like you are attacking the men there etc...

We welcome any female over 18 or any person who identifies as a female.

Yes, we know you welcome all adults regardless of sex.

I divorced a while ago and have struggled to find a social circle.
My DD asked why I don't make friends in the pub like her dad does.All thing being equal,why not.Because in the world where men and women are equal what could possibly go wrong?
Men are dismissive of the WI and few choose to join,if the WI were all much younger women would they do the same?
I want to be talked to like a fellow human being not chatted up,not listened to or talked over.If you're not in a big city how do you meet people as a woman?

We welcome any female over 18 or any person who identifies as a female.

We know. That's why we aren't joining.

RuthW

Yes we are aware you accept both Male and female persons and that’s why I won’t personally join, even though I’ve always wanted to make the time once my daughter left home, which is coming up.

I wonder, is WI that popular anymore? If more women realised it was no longer exclusively female, if it would lose memberships? I had not heard until today they did, which is deeply disappointing. I’ll make a post on Spinster

I'm sure it's deliberate. The rage at women on here daring to challenge men is immense. They have been supremely successful in policy capturing almost every level of society (including as RuthW so clearly evidenced - the WI), to the extent that women only spaces have to go underground.
Yet - here we are, us uppity women - refusing to be silenced by our masters. Insisting on biological facts, the importance of women and our rights, demanding that children are kept safe from adult grooming. So here they gather, sealioning, word salading and (as narcissists do) trying to suck the life out this board. But to their frustration - they fail. Every. single. time.

If my memory serves me correctly, the WI became "inclusive" back in 2015.

Thehagonthehill

If you're looking for feminist social circles, there are many women's groups that are quietly and effectively operating. Try following some of them online and maybe attending one of the brilliant meetings where you get to talk to other like minded women and can start making connections?

If you're not in a big city how do you meet people as a woman?

In my not a big city area there are a number of groups which are women only though not advertised as such, or to my knowledge strictly so as opposed to 'just happen to be'. They are mostly interest based, things like arts and crafts groups, certain fitness activities, a couple church based. Volunteering can also be a good way to meet people, and again in certain areas tends to end up women only.

There are also various interest based groups that are mixed sex but because people are concentrated more on the activity they are more comfortable for single women than a pub tends to be.

Obviously everyone has different interests but in general I think joining a group based on doing something you enjoy is a good way to find like minded people, and there are groups around that are in practise women only, even if they aren't women's groups if that makes sense.

It can be hard meeting new people, especially as often the time you wish to do so is because of a loss (to death or divorce for example) so your confidence is already low. Not assuming that applies in your case, but wishing you luck in finding a space that works for you either way.

If you feel uncomfortable in woman-only groups then don’t join woman-only groups. No one is forced to participate. It’s not about ‘equality’ it’s about choosing your company to suit a given activity. If you feel a mixed group covering the same areas of interest or concern would more suit you, there’s nothing stopping you and like-minded others establishing such a mixed group. It’s about freedom of association.

Some activities I don’t mind sharing with men (because I don’t hate them) and the activity in question benefits from mixed participation, others I prefer the company of only other women. In a learning environment, such as my coding class which is a woman-only group (technically TW welcoming because it’s California but we don’t, as yet, have any TW and I hope that doesn’t change) I definitely don’t need men talking over the instructor to show off that they already know this stuff (why are you in the class then?) mansplaining basics and introducing a competitive element into the learning.

Which is especially annoying since many of them turn out to only have women in them anyway. And I reckon that some blokes would like a men's only class - DH would benefit from Pilates but won't contemplate joining a mixed group.

We go to a mixed sex Pilates class at our mixed sex gym. Much for a long time was the only man there and clearly many women resented it. 2 more men have since joined.

Surely if you want a women only class then you join one that is categorically women only? You don't join a mixed sex class and then complain that a man is present?

Decomposing That's my point - I am struggling to find any classes that are advertised as women-only. In London, FFS. So - I haven't joined a class at all.

I haven't complained. I just don't go.

Surely if you want a women only class then you join one that is categorically women only?

Did you miss the part of that post where the poster said that they had tried in vain to find a women-only class?

CassianAndor

Are there no women only gyms? I live in a small town and we have 3 here.

Did you miss the part of that post where the poster said that they had tried in vain to find a women-only class?

No. My point about if you don't want men in your class then find a women only class related to my post about my DH being made unwelcome in a mixed sex class because he was a man.

none near where I live or where I work. Plenty of pilates classes here, there and everywhere, none that are advertised as women-only.

While there’s any chance of being a non consenting part of some AGP’s knitting and jam-making fetish, I wouldn’t be going to WI.

Sadly the actual female only groups have to operate in secret. Men simply cannot bear for us to have anything that they can’t be involved in. Even if it’s of no interest to them, if it excludes them, it can’t exist.

DecomposingComposers thanks to gender identity nonsense, woman no longer refers to female. Classes that are advertised as 'women-only', especially in large trendy cities, include those that 'self-identify' as women or females aka males. Usually when you find a woman only session, when you read the description it includes self-identifying malarky, which defeats the point of having a single sex space in the first place.

I wanted to try a self defense class recently. It was said to be open to women or those with a feminine identity.. wtf is that if not open to men who think they are women?

Sound like your DH was unlucky, decomposing - all the Pilates classes I've been to have been mixed in theory, sometimes in practice and no one has batted an eyelid. Because the women were ones who were happy with mixed sex classes. The women in your class were unreasonable to resent your DH in a mixed class, and moreso if they actually could have joined an explicitly all women's class.
Seems like we'd all like to be able to have a choice of women's, men's or mixed?

Men are dismissive of the WI and few choose to join,if the WI were all much younger women would they do the same?

The group I belong to is much younger women in the main, 30+.

I am a bit shocked people are so dismissive of the OP, what she is asking is a pretty common question. There were a lot of people who are very negative towards all mens groups, and most younger women really have very little opportunity or experience of single sex groups.

We don't have WIs where I live but we have other similar concepts, and there are many many young women who think they are sexist and passe, and many of them struggle to find members. The younger generations don't tend to be joiners in general.