Why?

Club rules keep women out of the network

A week ago Lady Judge, the newly appointed chairman of the Institute of Directors, held an unusual party. 

The room at the London club’s grand headquarters in Pall Mall was filled with the great and the good(ish): over champagne and canapés, the UK home secretary and the head of the Royal Mail hobnobbed with a former Lord Mayor of London and other senior figures in business and politics. Nothing out of the ordinary, one might think. London’s establishment loves to get together, and gatherings such as this do much to oil the wheels of power. 

But what was almost unprecedented for an occasion of this sort was that the room was entirely full of women.

Those at the Garrick Club opposed to women members have come up with a range of explanations for why they do not want to share their space, some more feeble than others. Among the lamest is the excuse put forward by several that the Garrick provides a welcome respite for men who otherwise could not resist showing off to impress women — “an innate male characteristic”, as one told The Independent, “whether you are a bird or an animal”. Pity the men who are forced to exhaust themselves with such displays.

Source: Financial Times