For many years women fought and won to belong to men-only clubs and societies .
For many years black people fought and won to belong to white only clubs and societies .
In the UK in the 90s white people went to the gospel churches because the singing was better .
And now they want female/black only spaces . Is that a retrograde step ?
Until recently I thought it was .
What is a safe space?
.A ‘safe space’ is a place that provides a physically and emotionally safe environment for a person or group of people, especially a place where people can freely express themselves without fear of prejudice, negative judgment, etc.: a safe space for single mothers to share their experiences.
It’s like going to a brainstorming meeting and the boss is there saying “don’t mind me “ but you suspect everything you say will be held against you , if you have a different view. So better the boss is not there.
Diversity is great providing you don’t disagree with the view put forward by the boss, whether the boss is old white straight male or young black lesbian .
Recently in London a play has been performed where for certain nights they wanted a black only (or is that a non-white) audience as typically the audience don’t want to behave as a typical middle class white audience might expect.
In the USA many Universities have marketed courses aimed at black females only and have been challenged to by the courts
Challenging Women Only Groups
I have challenged many women’s groups to justify why they don’t want men there. And they complain about mansplaining, and about not being able to be themselves is men are present. Equally men have complained about not wanting women present for the same reasons- but that is not equality.
I recently went to a LGBT+@Work conference at IE University in Madrid. It was a joyous and professional event. There was a great variety of attendees and it was a safe space and everyone was comfortable enough to be themselves.
The same, of course, could be said about attending a Christian Mothers event – where if you want your biases confirmed then they will be.
Safe Spaces
So, I changed my mind, though to me the female only or black only events are probably more interesting than the white male macho events where most people still dare not be themselves for fear of not being white or macho enough.
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Written by David Rigby © 2024 Smart Coaching & Training Ltd
