(Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

A story caught my eye this morning, about a man who runs a barber shop who refused to cut women’s hair.

Now firstly I don’t know a woman alive who’d want to get her haircut by someone who didn’t want to cut their hair (it’s nerve wracking enough when the person with the scissors is trying to get it right) so I seriously doubt this ban will have much of an effect.

But what really piqued my interest was the owner’s justification for not serving women. He stated: ‘I feel that men need a place, especially a barbershop, to go get a haircut, have a beer and discuss and chat freely and openly.’



He also went on to suggest that these kinds of male spaces could help to counteract the incredibly high male suicide rate.


As a feminist I’m not usually down for women being told that they can’t do something. But in this case, I’m with the owner.

Barbershops have traditionally been male meeting places where men are able to chat and share together. For some men there are some conversations that they couldn’t have with a female presence. And that’s okay.

(Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

Sometimes my husband will bugger off for the day with his male friends. They’ll watch rugby and drink beer and presumably do some talking. WAGs are not invited. It’s boy time. And while occasionally I wonder what on earth they’re doing, and rue my husband’s sloppy drunk return, I respect how sacrosanct that boy time is.

Single-sex spaces have traditionally been the preserve of women, both formally and informally.

Female only spaces like this one are hugely important, but a lot more common. Women are traditionally more likely to meet up, spend time together, talk about their lives and retain friendships throughout their lives. Basically, women carve out women only spaces in their day to day lives.

Male only spaces, such as clubs and professional networks have usually focused around power and progression, whereas female spaces have been geared towards emotional support.

Female only spaces haven’t traditionally had any power. They’ve been housewives all going to the supermarket or playground together because that’s less boring than doing it alone. Women gathering together to do their laundry on the banks of a river. Female students trying to work out how best to stop girls from getting sexually harassed in university clubs.

While it’s frustrating that female networks have traditionally afforded us less power, one of the privileges of being a woman is having access to emotional support.

(Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co,uk)

Feminists look to address the gender inequalities which affect men as well as women. The fact that men have fewer places to access emotional support is one of those inequalities.

Men deserve a place to talk about men’s issues, men’s concerns, men’s needs. And while it would be wonderful for men to feel free to discuss this in fixed company, the way that society hammers boys into thinking they have to appear macho and strong at all times makes that really hard.



So male only spaces are perfectly legit. That’s as long as they’re not being used to screw women over.

There is a huge, huge difference between a barber shop where men of all ages come together to talk and hang out, and something like the President’s Club.

Male only spaces which are designated for support and discussion or just hanging out? Great.

Not asking your female co-worker to come to after work drinks because it’s more fun to do it ‘just boys’? Not okay. Going to a strip club after work and making your female colleagues come with you (awkward) or decline (therefore missing out on important bonding & work discussions)? Really not okay.

If you’re confused about why women sometimes get pissy about all male spaces, here’s why: until a few decades ago it was controversial to even have a career if you had a vagina, even more so if you had a family. So time and time again women weren’t invited to the networking events, the meetings behind closed doors. And because of that, they missed out.

These guys know the difference (Picture: Ella Byworth/Getty Images)

This kind of behaviour is not outlawed, despite it being 2018. ‘I can’t count the number of times I’ve missed out on a decision because I didn’t stay out drinking with the boys’ Emma*, 31, who works for a bank told Metro.co.uk. ‘I’ve had to go to topless bars to try and stay in the discussion. It’s not fair. My colleagues clearly didn’t want me there.’


*name changed.

Women shouldn’t be disadvantaged just because they ‘can’t keep up with the boys’.

Having worked as a temp throughout university and before becoming a writer, I spent a lot of time going from office to office. Time and time again I noticed the same dynamic of the men banding together in happy, bantering friendships and leaving women out. Whether it was not inviting them to lunch or not including them with weekend activities, it was omnipresent in every major company I worked at. Worse if the company was male dominated.

It’s not that the blokes were trying to suppress female progress. It was that they liked and respected each other more than their female co-workers and that became a bias through and through.

Here’s a rule of thumb: if your all male event directly disadvantages women, it’s not a good all male event. If you’re getting a leg up from a male professional network which is accident and steeped in powerful connections, you’re getting something that a woman wouldn’t be able to have.

Men have every right to their own spaces, but not when those all-male spaces directly disadvantage women.

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