Keep out! Men call for shed ban on all women
A MAN’S shed has long been his castle – but the traditional male-only domain is under pressure from women keen to get through the door.
Now the head of the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association has taken drastic steps to preserve the male dens’ character, saying there should be ‘absolutely no women’ allowed.
‘As soon as women get involved, the whole dynamic changes in the shed and the men’s behaviour changes,’ said Jason Schroeder, whose association encourages men to take part in carpentry, gardening or car repairs to help overcome their anxieties by talking ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with new friends.
But while there are now 75 sheds open in Scotland, with 45 more planned, some of them have deviated from the original idea by admitting the opposite sex.
‘This is now becoming very confusing,’ said Mr Schroeder, who founded the first shed in Scotland in 2009. ‘The message we need to start getting out there is this is a health initiative for men.
‘As far as I am concerned, Men’s Sheds are 100 per cent a male health initiative to help our men stay healthy longer and to give back and have a purpose again in life when they have time on their hands.
‘This is a social place for men to relax in. They can talk about prostates and all sorts of health issues which they are never going to talk about in front of women.’
One shed welcoming women is in Dunoon, Argyll, where Ceci Alderton became involved through her husband. She said: ‘I am aware of views in other sheds where one guy said if a woman comes in, I am leaving.
‘Men are freer by themselves to talk about men’s things, but some do welcome women and women are still in the minority.
‘You almost have to be one of the boys to fit in well – it is open to women, but they have to take it as what it is.’