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On Saturday 9/28/13 I went to table with WOMEN'S WAY at Campus Philly's College Day, an annual event where Philadelphia museums are free to college students.  A variety of vendors and organizations set up tables in front of the Art Museum, all stocked with the standard array of swag and sign-ups.  WOMEN'S WAY was at a small table under the non-profit tent, surrounded by largely similarly-minded organizations.  Our day entailed encouraging people to stop by our table, at which point we would engage them in conversation about WOMEN'S WAY and how they could get involved.  To aid with this we had informational materials on the organization and our campaigns, a sign-up sheet to receive email updates from us, and free branded sunglasses to entice people to talk to us and sign up. 

We were largely successful in that a fair number of people stopped to talk with us, and most of them seemed interested in what we were doing.  However, very noticeably - though not necessarily surprisingly - we had very few men stop to talk with us, and none wrote down their information on our sign-up sheet (which only asked for name, email, and phone number).  One man even stopped to ask us the name of our organization, and left saying that clearly we wouldn't want him once he heard our name. 

Reactions like this are nothing new, neither to women's organizations nor to the feminist movement at large.  It is a disappointing reminder, though, of the struggle to balance the benefit of allies versus the overall importance of a women-led, women-oriented movement.  We tried to stop the man, in order to explain to him that a women-oriented organization did not necessarily mean that men are rejected from participating; rather, they must do so as allies to a movement organized by and for women.  Allies have a place to be effective and useful, and we lose that advantage when they feel excluded from the movement's goals.  At the same time, it is not the responsibility of an oppressed group to expend effort making sure the privileged group feels equally welcome. 

My response to this event is less any new thought or reaction, but rather a reminder and real encounter of a theme often encountered when considering social movements.