Should men be joining the Woman's Club?
The club, started in 1891 has always denied men's entry, although it was never against the bylaws. But what is the purpose of men joining the club?
Many of the female members feel it is a slap in the face to the history of the club, and Flora McFarlane, who started the club, but in this day and age is it not proper to allow anyone to join?
I do know that two of the men are developers, who one can guess, want to eventually get onto the board to be able to dictate the sale of the club one day, but then again, women developers could easily join the club and do the same thing.
What do you think? Should men be permitted to join the Woman's Club of Coconut Grove?
posted by Tom Falco at 8:00 AM
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13 Comments:
As long as they wear mini skirts.
Makes absolutely no sense.
No way
Why not?
Equal rights.
No more woman's club, now it's "Their Club".
Good Gosh, Girls joining boys club, men marrying men, women marrying women, is it a boy or is it a girl in the military, dogs are considered family members entitled to health insurance and lip sink sales to humans on TV.
It needs a more gender neutral name like COCONUTS Club.
I heard rumors recently that developers are targeting The Women's Club snd the Library. They won’t be happy until they have raped and pillaged every historical building in our village.
Some years ago a study was conducted to pinpoint which type of men have the highest increase in expendable income year over year and it was determined to be consistently those men who marry newly divorced or widowed women. Figure out the rest yourself.
A better question is there a good reason why they should not be allowed to join?
Their website welcomes men as members :
"The Woman’s Club was founded in 1891 and is dedicated to enriching the community through the promotion of public welfare, education, civic improvement, historic preservation and the advancement of the arts and culture while fostering good fellowship among its members. The Club has served as a social, educational and cultural center throughout its 127-year history. It is a place where women and men come together, build relationships, and create community through their service activities."
Maybe its time to change the name to something like "The Coconut Grove Social Club" that is more inviting to all humans of the gender neutral society we are becoming.
Life is change, if this Club does not adapt and attract young members it will die when its current members get too old to participate actively.
I hope they adapt because they are a part of the old Grove that should be a vibrant and active part of the community, if we "protect" the Club and it becomes a old dusty museum... well, that is just another type of death sentence!
Growth in membership through youth and diversity would attract more events to the Club (Toastmasters, TEDx, Art Clubs, activities for young couples with kids (like day care or night care while young couples are out to dinner in the Grove, etc.) which could help finances and protect the building in the long term.
I hope it adapts and survives...
Keep the building wings, build a truck stop behind the facade and an office building to top it off.
Thank you for posting our mission statement. As you can read in it, we are not a “social club” we work with and for the community, and when we do social gatherings, like happy hour or bingo, the money goes, mainly to maintain our 97 year old building or, as we did the last time, by giving a percentage of the intake to the Woman’s Cancer association, to help the community. Many in the Grove have been touched by cancer and the WCA fundraises for Cancer Research at UM. Our July Bingo will help the Coconut Grove Garden Club, who together with our own beatification committee are landscaping our grounds. This year we have also given monies to Operation Smile, a charity we’ve worked with in the past as well as grants to High School Art Students and an educational grant for those who want to pursue their education as educators. So as you see we are more than a pretty building. Our bylaws and charter are strong. We are the WoMan’s club, why change the name?
I invite you and anyone else to come by our club, where the true history and work of our club can
be learned, without innuendo or wrong information. It’s always a good thing to go to the source.
Virginia Yermoli
President
Woman’s Club of Coconut Grove
If five men where to create a Coconut Grove Men's Club. Have a charter filled with philanthropy and good causes but exclude women, there would, rightfully, be an uproar. I would certainly not change the name as there is absolutely nothing wrong with it being called what it has bee called historically, but an organization should not discriminate based on gender. I do not, however, believe that they should be compelled by law to allow men, so long as they do not operate using public funds or get special tax considerations.
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