Women-only space

A women-only space is a physical area where only women are allowed. The notion of a women-only space is to provide a place where women do not interact with men.

Because the point of the space is to provide a "men-free" environment, there is discussion in some circles about whether trans women should be allowed into such spaces, both from an ethical and from a legal perspective.^[1]^[2]^[3] In some cases questions have been raised about the value and legitimacy of particular spaces being reserved for women.^[4]

These spaces are sometimes referred to as "safe space." The goal is to provide women an area to work, free of male judgement or harassment.^[5]

The concept is a form of sex segregation, and practices such as women-only public toilets, women-only passenger cars on public transport or women's parking spaces may be described using both terms.^[6]

Historically and globally, many cultures had some form of female seclusion.

History

A ladies' ordinary was a women-only dining space which started to appear in North American hotels and restaurants in the early 19th century, when it was socially unacceptable for women to dine in public without a male escort. ^[7]

In 1929 Virginia Woolf published an influential essay entitled "A Room of One's Own". ^[8]

Andaruni (Iran)
Seraglio (Ottoman Empire)
Zenana (South Asia)
Purdah (South Asia)
Terem (Russia)

Examples of women-only spaces

Some of these allow men at certain times of the day, week, or year, for example as guests. Other establishments allow men and women into physically separate areas. Others exist only temporarily, renting space for a few hours or days. Some of these allow children, either only girls or both sexes.

Menstruation

Menstrual taboos can require a woman to segregate herself from her community, for example the chhaupadi (menstrual huts) of Nepal today, or The Red Tent, a fictionalised version of Old Testament-era customs

Land and shelter

Womyn's land, stemming from separatist feminism of the 1970s
anti-war activism such as Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp in the UK and Seneca Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice in the US
Umoja, Kenya, a village of women and children fleeing domestic violence
Women's shelter, a place of temporary accommodation for women fleeing domestic violence, e.g. Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter
Some homeless shelters are just for women, e.g. Rosie's Place
Most rape crisis centers

Places to wash

Public nudity is in many cultures restricted to single-sex groups. So public baths may separate men and women by time or by space.

Turkish bath, hammam, see especially its function as a gendered social space

Education

Girls' schools, i.e. single-sex education, see also Category:Girls' schools
Women's colleges and universities
Finishing school
Sororities

Religion

Women's mosques in China, and more generally the women's space in most mosques, see Gender separation in mosques
Gender separation in Judaism, as for example the Mechitza used to demarcate women's space in a synagogue
Convent, the home of Christian nuns
Double monastery, with separate space for monks (men) and nuns (women)
Beguinage, all-women accommodation in the Low Countries

Hospitals

Historically, some health care services for women (particularly around childbirth) were staffed by women. As women gained increased access to education in the late nineteenth century, hospitals hired female physicians for female patients; nurses by this point were almost exclusively female.

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Obstetric Hospital is named after one of Britain's first female physicians
London School of Medicine for Women, the first medical school to train women as doctors

Businesses and services

Women-only bank
Women's parking space
Women-only passenger car
Women's clubs that have or had their own premises (parallel to a gentlemen's club), see List of women's club buildings as part of the US Woman's club movement
Of this international list of women's organizations, some have their own premises
Community centres focusing on women, such as The Women's Building in San Francisco and Pankhurst Centre in Manchester
Sex shops catering to women, such as Sh! Women's Erotic Emporium

Lesbian services

Cruises and vacation resorts such as those operated by Olivia Travel
Lesbian bar
Lesbian Herstory Archives

Military and policing

Some countries operate or operated separate services for women, such as the UK's Women's Royal Air Force, see Category:All-female military units and formations
Women's police station

Cultural events

Michigan Womyn's Music Festival (closed after 40th anniversary in 2015)
Nyansapo Festival, planned for summer 2017 in Paris
Mountain Moving Coffeehouse, a weekly music night in Chicago (1974-2005)
Race for Life, a British charity event that raises money for cancer
Take Back the Night, a protest march in several countries

References

↑ Julia Serano. "On the Outside Looking In". Retrieved 2013-01-08.
↑ Julian Norman (22 May 2012). "Legalities of excluding trans women from women only spaces". Retrieved 2013-01-08.
↑ Murphy, Mary (2014). "FEMINIST SPIRITUALITY AND GENDER Lessons From Beyond Women-Only Space". Communities. 162: 38–72. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
↑ Julia Long (2012-12-07). "So I'm a feminist troublemaker for requesting some women-only space?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
↑ "Gale - Enter Product Login". go.galegroup.com. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
↑ Browne, Kath (Sep 2004). "Genderism and the Bathroom Problem: (re)materialising sexed sites, (re)creating sexed bodies.". Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography. 11 (3): 331–346. doi:10.1080/0966369042000258668. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
↑ Freedman, Paul (2014-09-01). "Women and Restaurants in the Nineteenth-Century United States". Journal of Social History. 48 (1): 1–19. ISSN 0022-4529. doi:10.1093/jsh/shu042.
↑ "Because They’re Worth It! Making Room for Female Students and Thealogy in Higher Education Contexts" (PDF). fth.sagepub.com. Retrieved 2016-10-24.

External links

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