For decades, women have been fighting the good fight, striving for equality in society, calling for a change to rigid stereotypes and exclusionary practices.
So is it all over now? Now that the Tasmanian Club has graciously allowed women to enter the venue – on the condition they are accompanied by a man? You can probably guess the answer there.
The intention is sweet, really. A group of more than 100 men, who are members of the all-male club, gathered at the annual general meeting in late November to determine the fate of women at the club.
The question was asked: should we grant women access to this club, a club that was founded as a “traditional gathering place for friends” (read: men), where “decorum, decency and good manners are still very much in style”?
The meeting was described as “one of the longest”, and “one of the largest”. A huge turnout, a rigorous debate. This decision was not made lightly. This is a Serious Issue.
And in a true sign of the times, the motion passed! Yes, at long last, women will be allowed in the gentlemen’s club—so long as their male partner accompanies them to the bar. What progression, what reform!
The announcement of the “potentially contentious” motion was made in the club’s newsletter, leaked to the ABC, by Tasmanian Club President John Macleod.
“We live in a time of change and the club is not immune to the change and challenges of today’s brave new world,” Macleod said.
To be clear, the Club believes they are aligning to this “brave new world” by allowing chaperoned women to go to the bar in the all-male Tasmanian Club.
If this is the club’s way of contributing to the feminist cause, it is completely misguided. Because it has never been about this. Truth be told: women don’t want to come to your gentlemen’s club.
The idea of equality, from the perspective of privileged groups, is as simple and one-dimensional as equal access. Let everyone come to gentlemen’s clubs. Let everyone see the art in the Ladies Lounge. Do we really need women-only gyms? What is a woman? And so on.
It’s true, however, that equal access does play a part in the feminist cause. Every shared space is one that privileges white, cishet men: pubs, parks, public transport, sports games, social media. The patriarchy made sure of this.
Equality is about giving these spaces back, making these spaces safe for everyone – women, people of colour, queer folk, gender-diverse people and people with disabilities.
I truly believe in having designated spaces for like-minded people to share experiences and ideas with one another. And it’s not discriminatory to do so. Anti-discrimination legislation in Australia provides carve-outs for “positive discrimination”, whereby discrimination on the basis of age, sex, race or disability takes place in order to improve access and opportunity for that particular group.
Yes, men need designated spaces too, to connect with one another, share experiences and ideas. Unfortunately, it’s the culture of the designated spaces that exist – these elite all-male clubs – that perpetuate inequality, not the idea itself of all-male spaces.
In other words, don’t change the rules at all-male clubs, change the conversations. How can we be better humans? How can we support the women in our lives? How can we be part of the solution to gender equality?
Granting women this conditional access to the Tasmanian Club is a distraction from bigger issues at play – like gender-based violence, the gender pay gap, women experiencing homelessness, and more. This decision is an illusion that they are progressing with the times, but peek behind the curtain, and you’ll find it’s the same old, same old.
So keep your gentlemen’s club – we don’t want it.