No Women Allowed: Strong Membership at the UK's Men's Only Garrick Club | gender equality news

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together, and one of the favorite flocking spots for the male elite of British business has long been London's Garrick Club.

But the male-only sanctity of the nearly 200-year-old Garrick Club was thrown into disarray after it was revealed that until just a few days ago its membership included such social figures as the head of the British Intelligence Service, government ministers, judges and members of parliament. , heads of publicly funded arts institutions, actors, celebrities and even King Charles.

Critics who question the judgment of powerful men who pay annual dues of about 1,000 pounds (about $1,260) to join an exclusionist club that actively blocks women from entering have urged officials and others to call for the Garrick Club to quit. The demand is growing.

Now the debate has reached a boiling point on the London social scene, with MI6 Director Richard Moore, Civil Service Director Simon Case and four senior judges all announcing their resignations in a men's-only bar. For the past few days.

Here's what we know about London's exclusive private membership, the Garrick Club.

Garrick Club in 1864 [Courtesy: Creative Commons]
stylish men

Located in the heart of Theatreland in London's West End, the Garrick Club was founded in 1831 in memory of 18th-century actor David Garrick, who led the club under the patronage of Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex and brother of King George IV. Considered one of the greatest actors of his time.

Founded to bring together sophisticated, educated men in a dining and social club environment, Garrick is known to have a waiting list of around 10 years for the admission of new male members.

The first members, Club Notes, were a sophisticated, international group that included 24 industry peers as well as writers, actors, musicians and publishers.

Then, as now, Garrick membership is only open to the male elite and the club appears to be sticking to tradition.

Britain's Guardian newspaper recently reported after obtaining a full list of the Garricks' current membership of about 1,500 people that they are overwhelmingly white and mostly elderly.

According to the Guardian, its members include three bishops and 14 pastors, along with senior politicians, judges, businessmen and academics, including Richard Moore, head of Britain's MI6 intelligence agency, and Simon Case, a top adviser to the Cabinet Office. Simon Case) is also a member. Chancellor Rishi Sunak did so until just a few days ago.

Garrick Club Library [Courtesy: flicker/ex_transit]

Garricks' star members include renowned actors including Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Succession co-stars Brian Cox and Matthew Macfadyen.

Members of the Media, Fashion, Music and Sport sector include John Simpson, the BBC's world affairs correspondent; Paul Dacre, former editor of the Daily Mail; The Guardian reports fashion designer Paul Smith, Dire Straits lead singer Mark Knopfler and English league manager Roy Hodgson.

Actor Stephen Fry attends the Sir Peter Hall Thanksgiving Service at Westminster Abbey in London in 2018. [Hannah McKay/Reuters]
Rules and Traditions: No Women

An attempt by British actress Joanna Lumley to join Garrick in 2011 after being nominated for membership by fellow actor Hugh Bonneville led the club to seek legal advice on the matter. She was not approved.

A poll of Garrick members in 2015 found that 50.5% supported female membership. That number was well short of the two-thirds majority needed to push through changes to the club's rules.

A recent poll of members due in late 2023 found that 51% of those surveyed said they would prefer female members, while 44% were opposed and 4% were undecided.

Garrick and other private clubs retain the right to enforce same-sex membership rules under the UK's 2010 Equality Act. Such clubs are private and therefore exempt from sanctions under human rights law.

Putin style management

Last February, a 40-year supporter of the Garrick Club was reportedly stripped of her membership for vocally advocating for female members to join.

According to the report, Colin Brough was deemed to have behaved ungentlemanly by the Garrick Club due to his activities on behalf of female members, including expressing his views by emailing fellow club members.

Brough reportedly described Garrick as having a Putin-style management and accused the club of blocking the will of the majority of members who preferred women to join.

Women may enter the Garrick Club as guests of male members, but some areas of the building are off-limits and reserved for members only.

Garrick states that members and guests must adhere to the club's traditions and rules, including the dress code. Men always wear a jacket, shirt, and tie to lunch or meals, and women can wear pants, but not jeans.

According to the club's website, visitors cannot pay any fees.

Women's voices opposing Old Boys Club grow louder

Jemima Olchawski, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, which advocates for women's equality and gender rights in the UK, wonders why some of the most powerful men in British society continue to be members of the sexist club. raised.

There is no room for blatant sexism and misogyny in the 21st Century Garrick Club membership policy, Olchoksi told Al Jazeera.

We talk about establishing an Old Boys Club, which is literally a club for boys, Olchawski said.

There is a big problem of inequality in our society. There is a gender wage gap, women are excluded from the workforce, and too few women hold positions of power in government and business. He added that harmful policies that actively exclude women are regressive and that senior and influential men who support them should be ashamed.

Having influential senior figures still part of the mechanisms that maintain the system as we know it feels careless at best and arrogant at worst.

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Fawcett Society (@fawcettsociety) March 20, 2024

More than a decade ago, Baroness Hale, the former Chief Justice of the United Kingdom, called together her male colleagues in the judiciary who were members of the club.

I find it quite shocking that so many of my colleagues belong to the Garrick family, but they don't see what all the fuss is about, Hale said at a forum on diversity in the legal profession. Judges must uphold the principle of equality for all, she said.

Jude Kelly, British theater director and founder of WOW Women of the World, said it was disconcerting to think that powerful and prominent men were allowed to be members of a club that still discriminates against women. Kelly questioned whether Garricks members would remain if the club excluded other categories of society, such as Jews, Muslims, black or Irish people, people with disabilities or members of the LGBTQ community.

What does it say about society that such a club can exist, Kelly told Al Jazeera.

The BBC's John Simpson, who has previously supported women joining Garrick, took to social media on Thursday to warn that withdrawals from the club would continue if the situation did not change soon.

Two Best KC [Kings Counsel], Michael Beloff and Lord Pannick say that legally women are already eligible to join the Garrick Club. More than half of the members have already voted to allow women to join, he wrote on social media.

Two top KCs, Michael Beloff and Lord Pannick, say that legally women are already eligible to join the Garrick Club. More than half of the members have already voted to allow women to join. If things don't change soon, the resignations will continue.

John Simpson (@JohnSimpsonNews) March 21, 2024

Historian Seth Thevoz wrote about an old British joke that summarized the logic of private clubs in society: Whenever three Englishmen are together, two of them must form a club to block the third.

Thevoz, author of Behind Closed Doors: The Secret Lives of Londons Private Members Clubs, also pointed out the dangers of club members becoming immersed in an echo chamber of thoughts and opinions.

Coalitions of like-minded people, he writes, make members more likely to agree, or at least share basic viewpoints, even if they run the risk of echo chambers.

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/27/no-women-allowed-the-curious-case-of-the-uks-men-only-garrick-club The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

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