WI (Womens Institute)

[janesmithsdog]

They say on their website they are for women only, but does anyone know if the WI allow male bodied people who “identify as women” to join? I’d like to join our local one but this would be an issue for me. Thanks in advance.

I think that's exactly what happened in the case of their cover star.

I think the wife ended up stopping going IIRC

Still as long as it’s just the odd one eh? I mean ffs

why is it so hard for these organisations to say no? I mean they have no problem saying no to actual women

Yes, this is how I feel really. Why shouldn’t it be single sex? There are loads of mixed sex social groups.

Yet men are allowed to keep their single sex clubs?

roll over women time to be kind.

im surprised the WI is allowed to even be called WI now. Give it a year and it will have changed it’s name to the persons institute. Let’s see how long it lasts if men have to organise it.

Honestly if it changes it's name, so be it. Just be honest and allow a separate space to start for those who want to be among women.

Shit. That won't work will it?

It’s allowed to be called the the women’s institute because TW want to go along and be validated so that’s okay. If it was something that impacts biological women including TM (like say periods or ovarian cancer or childbirth) it would be called the Bleeder’s Institute or similar. We all know the rules come on now Women/Bleeders*
*delete as appropriate

This!

Hmm I agree with all of this.

Imagine the outcry if one identified as disabled / black etc!

We don't have to imagine. We only have to look at what happened to Rachel Dolezal who identifies as black.
I want to know when I can get OAP discounts because I feel old!

im surprised the WI is allowed to even be called WI now. Give it a year and it will have changed it’s name to the persons institute

I don’t think there will be pressure to change the name because their view is “TWAW”. If it was kept solely for women there would probably be pressure to change the name to “cervix havers institute” or something equally daft.

The thread linked up thread mentioned the Soroptimists that I had never heard of. They look like a good thing, kind of like the WI but with activism re: the issues women and girls face worldwide. Is anyone familiar with them?

I don’t know if that’s supposed to be sarcastic, but no, men have not been allowed to keep their single-sex clubs. Hundreds were forced to accept women in recent decades, from university societies, through gyms, private members clubs, golf clubs and on to cubs and scouts there was a concerted campaign by women to force them to become mixed sex.

It seems a bit strange now for women to be pretending this never happened when men want to be allowed into their clubs too.

Here’s an article about the campaign to force the Garrick club to become mixed;

www.lbc.co.uk/news/campaign-garrick-female-members-ban-commons/

@NotKevinTurvey the difference being that those places were used to cement male privilege in place. Women missed out because they weren't able to be part of the conversation with people in positions of power.

The WI is not one of those places.

So it’s only clubs that you approve of that get to restrict membership to one sex?

That’s an interesting rule. Hypocritical some would call it.

Notkevin, that isn’t what was said and you know it.

I find it so annoying when people resort to these strawmen. If your argument is solid, let it be heard. I am genuinely interested to hear it, I am still wrestling through what I think about this.

It's not a strawman really though, is it when they have their reasons (however shit they are) single sex and they don't want to change.
It's a fair point.
If you want women's groups such as WI to remain single sex, it's pretty hypocritical to have a problem with men's groups wanting to do the same.

To carry on my post, I can see why women may want single sex groups for a completely different reason (scared of men, or can't mix with them for any reason eg religion) but it still remains that if you want equality, how are are we going to achieve that by wanting one rule for womens groups, and another for mens?

Tis fairly simple.

If the group is a space where decisions of import that affect people outside the space are made, be they women, men, or small furry animals from outer space, then you need to think very carefully whether you are entitled to exclude some groups.

Neither the women's or the men's only swimming group makes decisions, and i don't think there is any networking that means people are being indirectly discriminated against in the workplace on the grounds of sex. They have the right to exist.

By the way, Scouts in the UK is mixed sex because it was struggling to run. Scouting leadership needed to open up the pool from which scouting could recruit volunteers. If they'd been able to run clubs with just dads, without resorting to asking mothers to volunteer, it would still be single-sex nationally.

There's a group in my area called 'men in sheds'. It supports older men who could potentially be socially isolated. It's great. No one suggests women should be allowed to join. Not even the women who are good at woodwork and like a nice shed. It's for men, who are disadvantaged by society in the social interaction game.
No one's campaigning to make it let women in.

Some women would like to set up comparable sheds with facilities but that's as far as they go.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/3609363-Do-woman-only-spaces-exist-any-more

I'm aware that some women have tried to accompany partners' to Andy's or 'men in sheds' but, interestingly, they've wanted to make sure that no other women could join…

Various other discussions:

site:mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights women "men's sheds"

Ha! I missed all that! In our area it's definitely aimed at the mental health crisis among older men, and their susceptibility to social isolation. I'd love to get my bloke out of the house, but he'll not go. So when I pop my clogs he'll be totally isolated.

The wider world is not segregated by sex, so it's important to have some spaces that are so people who prefer that have an option.

It also seems odd that posters here are ignoring the many female to male trans people. Are they not female interlopers into male spaces according to the logic of many posters? I'm quite happy to welcome transwomen into my female spaces.

I'm quite happy to welcome transwomen into my female spaces.

By extension, you'd be excluding women of faith amongst the women who rely upon single-sex spaces to have any form of public, civic, social, or occupational life.

Individuals don't get to cede rights on behalf of other women.

MrsRuggles
It appears transmen do not encroach on male spaces with the same loud demanding entitled voice many transwomen use and if they do the risk they pose to men is virtually none existent. In fact if memory serves there was quite the uproar at transmen using a gay male sauna in recent years.

While you maybe happy to share female spaces with males many women & girls are not for various reasons and as they are female spaces it seems odd to me that you will ignore female voices in favour of male ones.