Of course, men and women must be treated equally but, now and again, we should be allowed to do our own thing
It’s
pitchforks at dawn in Devon where some women are not amused at the organising of a maleonly farmers’ dinner.
There are situations, including golf clubs that are looking to host prestigious championships, where you must be willing to accommodate both sexes if you want to be in the running for global events.
But I completely get that guys should be able to have their boys-only clubs, just as we women should be able to have all-girl events without feeling we’re discriminating against anyone.
There are circumstances where we should be free to enjoy boy chat and girl chat, and where you don’t have to hold back as we do sometimes in mixed company.
So, with the Dartmouth Fatstock Show where they are having an awards lunch for both sexes, I can’t see a problem with the men having their own dinner in the evening. If the ladies also want to have a dinner, then go ahead...
It’s the “in” thing to be offended by almost everything but we need to be sensible about it and recognise there are certain occasions where boys just want to be with boys and girls just want to be with girls, and leave it at that.
We are emotionally and physically different, so it’s about trying to understand each other’s worlds.
I find that very often in physical activities, especially where girls are in a minority, they can be intimidated. The boys aren’t doing that on purpose, it’s just they’re generally more noisy, physical and competitive at a young age. There’s a huge need in my opinion to have girls-only options.
On Thursday, I was leading a Christmas tennis party for 88 girls aged nine to 12 in the East End of Glasgow. It was part of a campaign called Like a Lassie, which is aimed at getting girls more active in areas where many don’t have gardens or money for clubs, and also to train more women to deliver physical activity. So this is an all-female situation for a good reason.
If we didn’t do it this way, the girls might never find their confidence because they’re put off that the boys are better. It’s just part of growing up, and it’s also why, if we push too far against single-sex events and activities, we could end up losing vital opportunities.