ARCHERY FOR WOMEN IS FOR WOMEN AND MEN WHO IDENTIFY AS WOMEN

My park district lies to women, prioritizes men who identify as women, and offers no programming for women.

I got the weekly email from my local park district announcing, among other offerings, Archery for Women. “Join the Outdoor Recreation School instructors to learn the basics of archery and elements of safety. Practice fundamental skills, participate in fun challenges and enjoy the thrill of hitting the target. Women, femme and non-binary folks are welcome at this program.”

I had to look up what femme meant. Part of the extremely long and confusing Wikipedia definition of femme was “Femme French, literally meaning "woman" is a term traditionally used to describe a lesbian woman who exhibits a feminine identity or gender presentation. While commonly viewed as a lesbian term, alternate meanings of the word also exist with some non-lesbian individuals using the word, notably some gay men and bisexuals. Some non-binary and transgender individuals also identify as lesbians using this term.” So, any biological woman or man could identify as femme. And as we know, nonbinary folks also come in male and female form. So Archery for Women invited people who identified as women, which is to say, men, to the class.

I had kind of a time getting hold of Tom, the media relations representative for the park district, but eventually he got back to me. This was our phone conversation.

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Me: Why did the park district create an Archery for Women class? I assume there was some demand for a women’s class as opposed to just a general Archery class.

Tom: We want to get more people outside and women are under-represented in archery. So we offered this class designed for women.

Me: Why offer a class for women and then invite people who identify as women, which would be men?

Tom: We want to be welcoming to everyone. We want to be inclusive. We don’t judge how someone identifies.

Me: But a class for women would naturally exclude men. That’s how you get a class for women.

Tom: We want to be inclusive.

Me: Inclusive sounds good but it excludes women. Women who sign up for Archery for Women do so for any number of reasons — religious, cultural, personal, because men have a tendency to talk over women. They want to learn in an all-women’s environment. So you’re lying to them that this class will be all women. Some dude who identifies as a woman shows up. He could have taken a general Archery class but he chose the Archery for Women Class to validate his womanhood. And everyone in the class knows he’s a man and the class becomes about validating this person’s identity. No one’s learning archery. Women will self exclude. How is this designed for women?

Tom: We want to be welcoming. We don’t judge how someone identifies.

Me: You’re not being welcoming to women for whom the class was designed. You’re prioritizing the feelings of men who identify as women over women who signed up to learn in an all-women’s environment. You’re lying to women.

(big silence) Me: Hello? hello?

Tom: Well, it’s in the description.

Me: So women should be aware that Archery for Women may have men in it?

Tom: We just want to be welcoming to everyone. We want to be inclusive.

Me: BUT YOU’RE EXCLUDING WOMEN! WOMEN WILL SELF EXCLUDE FROM A WOMEN’S CLASS WITH MEN IN IT! Women is a sex class. There are men and women. In order to have a class for women, you must exclude men. If you have a class for women but invite men it’s no longer for women. There is nothing for women. Canoeing classes, running clubs —there is nothing for women.

Tom: This class is designed for women.

Me: How is it designed for women?

Tom: It’s less competitive. It’s less competitive. It’s less competitive, and the bow strength is dialed back. mumble mumble. And there’s more opportunity for feedback…

Me: But you offer a general Archery class. Men could sign up for that.

Tom: We don’t judge how someone identifies.

Me: But the For Women part, then, is meaningless. Women is meaningless Those are just some words tacked onto the end of Archery?

Tom: We don’t judge how someone identifies. We just want to be welcoming.

Me: (sigh)

I texted Tom later to suggest that for the sake of honesty, the park district change the name of the class to Archery For All. I suggested that they not lie to women that this is a women’s class, or pretend that men who identify as women are women. Because they have no programming for women. I let Tom know that it’s deeply insulting to women to pretend that men are women, something he and the park district had apparently not considered.

I want to hear from you. Can you find a class or club or space just for women? Tell me about it in the comments.

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