Men's Clubs and The Evil Patriarchy
Feminism eliminated men's clubs because they were "bastions of patriarchy" and "old boy's clubs." Of course, women see nothing wrong with having women-only gyms, women-only courses, women-only hospitals, and women-only clubs; these are helping "oppressed" women. Oppressed businesswomen: what will they ask us to believe next?
I think it's high time that we brought men's clubs back. Not so that we can plot the oppression of females everywhere, but because sometimes it's nice to be with other men and only other men, and not all of us play sports and shoot the shit in the locker room afterward. Myself, I'm a quiet kind of guy and from time to time I would like to sit a nice comfy chair in a club somewhere... with no women in sight... and talk to other men about what's going on in my life, or maybe just hang out with them in silence.
I know that the prospect of bringing back men's clubs frightens many women. They worry that any new "men's clubs" would be the way that women think men's clubs used to be... or, more accurately, how feminists rewrote history to make men's clubs look... that a "men's club" would be a centre of power from which men could control society and subjugate women. I say, so what if women are scared of this? Women are scared of almost everything. Where is it written that men must live within the bounds of what women find comfortable, particularly when that circle is shrinking year by year? If we as men proscribe our behaviour based upon women's fear, we'll soon not be able to live at all.
I should also point out that most "men's clubs" were informal affairs peopled by working-class grunts who had no control over society and were as often subjugated by their wives as subjugating their wives. Only a small proportion of men's clubs enjoyed official status and were peopled by the wealthy and powerful few. These clubs were off-limits not only to women, but to almost all men as well; only a small number of powerful men had access. As such, these clubs didn't represent "men's oppression of women" but "the oppression by a few powerful men of everyone else." These clubs still exist, but they are now open to a small number of powerful men and powerful women. Where is the justice in that? Some idiots paint this as a victory by all women over all men. It is not. It is simply the expansion of the elite few by the addition of a few women. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
What I would like are informal clubs open to all kinds of men from all walks of life that exist to give men a place to go and get away from the oppressive emotional control that women have over men. A place to go and just talk with other men without having to edit every word and idea for propriety. A place to relax. I know that such a club wouldn't evolve into a club of elite oppressors because clubs of elite oppressors already exist and don't include me, so the mere maleness of a new club would not cause it to move in that direction, particularly if it had me as a member.
