Rachel Johnson has narrated this article for you to listen to.
In my experience, men offer this infuriating comeback when challenged about the continuing exclusion of women from clubs such as the Garrick (for now at least – the Garrick is voting on 7 May on the admission of women as members). ‘But why don’t you set up your own women-only clubs,’ they sulk, ‘and leave us alone?’
My interlocutors are often members of not one but multiple men-only clubs. My husband, father and brothers, for example, frequent a combination of White’s, the Beefsteak, Pratt’s (men-only until last year) and the Garrick. Two of my siblings à l’époque graced the Bullingdon at Oxford.
Women-only clubs are all marketed as networking hubs, while men-only clubs are social and superior
As I recall, I had my own wedding reception at the Savile, so I’ve never condemned their patronage of these establishments and enjoy my occasional visits, even though they can make me feel like a toddler on a school trip.
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