The Garrick Club
Discussion
Wouldn't women prefer to go to a Bear club rather than a Men's club?
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hstewie said:
hstewie said:Ridgemont said:
Sorry don’t get it: membership of the Garrick is not an equality issue. It’s a gentleman’s club in the same way the WI is for females only. It’s only an optics issue because some people want that changed. Membership of the Garrick does not make you a member of a misogynistic organisation. The Garrick has a policy. Like the MCC it may change that policy but if ‘optics’ are the driver then it’s all about ‘not a good look’. Well that’s very much up to the members to change and I suspect with Stephen Fry a member I have no doubt that that may become a thing (even if I disagree).
As to the resignees I don’t have an enormous amount of time for the likes of Simon Case who strikes me as a modern day Vicar of Bray..
Nothing to do with misogyny.As to the resignees I don’t have an enormous amount of time for the likes of Simon Case who strikes me as a modern day Vicar of Bray..
Think power and cosy little deals in smoke filled rooms and all those kinds of cliches.
I went to Boodles a few years back as the guest of a client, stunning interiors.
The folks I saw were all older gents reading newspapers or asleep in armchairs; absolutely no-one was talking, even in the bar we went through.
Recall we automatically reverted to whispers in some areas while he was showing me around.
An oppressive stillness akin to a traditional library reading room, verging on the uncomfortable.
Could have been one of those "hiding in plain sight" things, and power-broking was going on in adjacent rooms but I doubt it.
Basically an equivalent of a local pub for rich people using it to get out of the house for a while.
Was lucky to have the opportunity to go in, but the building itself was the highlight for me rather than anyone in it.
Rusty Old-Banger said:
W12GT said:
Is nothing sacred? Do we have nowhere left to hide???
Get a job on a building site, or a recycling centre/rubbish tip, or a sewage works. You'll find one of the genders actively avoid those spaces. 
Long standing crusty old men resign in protest that hysterical women aren't let into a club they don't really want to join because it's full of crusty old men, as they didn't know it was full of only crusty old men.
Headlines and earnest column inches, serious journalists and activists engaged, nodding and tears, there there.
Victory for hysterical women who are now demanding 'where is my invite' to get in a club they don't like. A great blow to the heteronormative patriarchy, courageous. 'I am strong and independent!' said no man ever.
Invite is in the post, probably arrive in ten years, unless you can keep the tabloids furious.
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I'm with Marx on this, 'I wouldn't want to be a member of a club that would have me as a member'. [Groucho, not Karl, or is that another club?]. Best off down the snug of the Old Dog and Duck, smoking a Woodbine and downing lukewarm 2.3ABV beer, aggressively snapping another domino onto the table.
Garrick deserves to be over-run and turned into a Longhouse, if you can't say 'fk off' once in a while you don't deserve survival.
Headlines and earnest column inches, serious journalists and activists engaged, nodding and tears, there there.
Victory for hysterical women who are now demanding 'where is my invite' to get in a club they don't like. A great blow to the heteronormative patriarchy, courageous. 'I am strong and independent!' said no man ever.
Invite is in the post, probably arrive in ten years, unless you can keep the tabloids furious.
--
I'm with Marx on this, 'I wouldn't want to be a member of a club that would have me as a member'. [Groucho, not Karl, or is that another club?]. Best off down the snug of the Old Dog and Duck, smoking a Woodbine and downing lukewarm 2.3ABV beer, aggressively snapping another domino onto the table.
Garrick deserves to be over-run and turned into a Longhouse, if you can't say 'f
k off' once in a while you don't deserve survival.I note that women only clubs are being vigorously defended by those who demanded access to the Garrick.
"Men gathering in influential places to the exclusion of women is profoundly status quo. They’ve been doing it for hundreds of years. When senior politicians and policymakers take lunch together at the Garrick, they are reinforcing power structures that have existed for centuries. There are plenty of women-only spaces that will continue to exclude men, but they do so to resist power, not to hoard it."
NDA said:
I note that women only clubs are being vigorously defended by those who demanded access to the Garrick.
"Men gathering in influential places to the exclusion of women is profoundly status quo. They’ve been doing it for hundreds of years. When senior politicians and policymakers take lunch together at the Garrick, they are reinforcing power structures that have existed for centuries. There are plenty of women-only spaces that will continue to exclude men, but they do so to resist power, not to hoard it."
The above quote shows us the problem and why this is an issue. Some women want to be able to join because of the advantage it brings."Men gathering in influential places to the exclusion of women is profoundly status quo. They’ve been doing it for hundreds of years. When senior politicians and policymakers take lunch together at the Garrick, they are reinforcing power structures that have existed for centuries. There are plenty of women-only spaces that will continue to exclude men, but they do so to resist power, not to hoard it."
Randy Winkman said:
Some women want to be able to join because of the advantage it brings.
The truth is that it doesn't bring any advantage. I used to belong to 3 members clubs in London - 2 founded in the 1800's and they were the epitome of notable and old fashioned clubs.They were places to have a long lunch, stay occasionally and, when it was allowed, to enjoy a cigar in the smoking room. All of which done without women being present - I thought it was very pleasant. They were not places where power-brokers met to scheme or where advantages were forged. If anything, they were more like a sophisticated version of a 6th form common room at a boarding school.
When women had to be admitted, the character of the clubs changed.
I am a great believer in women and men having their own spaces to enjoy - if some women think that gives men an advantage of some sort, they'd be wrong.
NDA said:
I note that women only clubs are being vigorously defended by those who demanded access to the Garrick.
"Men gathering in influential places to the exclusion of women is profoundly status quo. They’ve been doing it for hundreds of years. When senior politicians and policymakers take lunch together at the Garrick, they are reinforcing power structures that have existed for centuries. There are plenty of women-only spaces that will continue to exclude men, but they do so to resist power, not to hoard it."
There are a small minority of people who will never be satisfied."Men gathering in influential places to the exclusion of women is profoundly status quo. They’ve been doing it for hundreds of years. When senior politicians and policymakers take lunch together at the Garrick, they are reinforcing power structures that have existed for centuries. There are plenty of women-only spaces that will continue to exclude men, but they do so to resist power, not to hoard it."
Googled your quote above and that article goes on to say that the next aim should be to remove the exclusivity of the clubs as some may not meet membership requirements or be able to afford the annual fees.
I'm not Scottish so accept that if I applied to join the Caledonian club it would be rejected.
Didn't serve in the forces either, so the Army and Navy Club is likely out of bounds.
Their club, their rules. Removing eligibility criteria so anyone could join defeats the whole point of a members club.
The statement of affordability is ridiculous too.
I don't have the money to stay in the Dorchester or buy a Ferrari so I go to a different hotel and buy a cheaper car.
To expect the price of things to be lowered just because I can't afford them is nonsense.
Not sure why anyone would want to be a member of the Garrick, like wise anyone thinking its a place for the old boys to control the world is pretty mistaken. Like Whites, its mostly full of old boys asleep in a reading room which looks a bit like your grans house. The other Pal Mall clubs offer a specific set of people a nice place to stay "in and out", army navy, sailing, oxford cambridge, RAC, landsdowne etc etc. To think there is a load of corrupt deals going on is pretty naive guardian thinking.
Most of the newer younger tory / Reform set go to 5 Hertford Street, Liz Truss's champange lunches etc.
Most of the newer younger tory / Reform set go to 5 Hertford Street, Liz Truss's champange lunches etc.
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