Is a Glastonbury 'safe space venue' really necessary?

Outlaw Pete · 22-06-2016 01:41PM #1

Just reading about this today and personally I just can't see a need for a venue / safe space at Glastonbury.

Glastonbury 2016: There's going to be a women-only venue called The Sisterhood

In a historic move, this year's Glastonbury Festival will feature a venue open only to women.

Named The Sisterhood, the spot will be hidden in the site's renowned Shangri-La area and is billed as an "intersectional, queer, trans and disability-inclusive space open to all people who identify as women".

Described as a "revolutionary clubhouse" the venue's staff, performers, and security will all be women.

The producers of The Sisterhood believe that women-only spaces are necessary in a world that is still run by and designed to benefit mainly men, the venue's organisers said. Oppression against women continues in various manifestations around the world today, in different cultural contexts.

In the UK, the gender pay gap in the workplace, cuts to domestic violence services and sex worker rights are current talking points that highlight this issue. Sisterhood seeks to provide a secret space for women to connect, network, share their stories, have fun and learn the best way to support each other in our global struggle to end oppression against women and all marginalised people, whilst showcasing the best and boldest female talent in the UK and beyond.

Many people expressed their views on social media where the response to the decision was fairly mixed

Seems to me that this is yet more pandering to a certain hyper sensitive fraction of society. I have no issue with women having female only gigs if they really want them (nor men having all male ones for that matter) but at such a historic music festival as Glastonbury I feel they are unneeded, to put it mildly. How could any form of segregation lend to a state of equality and isn't that what we as a society have been striving for all these years. A society where we treat both sexes equally and fairly. What says your good selves?

beach_walker · 22-06-2016 01:45PM

Sisterhood seeks to provide a secret space for women to connect

They're not doing a good job of keeping it under wraps.

ibarelycare · 22-06-2016 01:45PM

Ridiculous. Sure anyone could walk up and tell them they "identify" as a woman.

Two Tone · 22-06-2016 01:46PM

Oh for crying out loud - I was expecting to be writing an "Eh... that's a parody news site

" post.

This kinda thing is becoming embarrassing now. If certain feminists get annoyed at demonisation, why the heck do they actively perpetuate it so?!

This stuff is helping create a chasm between the sexes, despite the demands for respect. I don't remember half as much gender wars and weird politics in gender relations pre social media.

LightsStillOn · 22-06-2016 01:46PM

Sure didn't Oxegen have a safe space years ago as well? You'd go in, they'd wrap you in a big tinfoil looking blanket, and let you stay there until you felt safe again. Wandering in one night, the skulls I saw were something else :pac:

ClovenHoof · 22-06-2016 01:47PM

That should have been in Koln, not Glastonbury.

22-06-2016 01:47PM

Why does it have to secret? its identity politics.

22-06-2016 01:50PM

SHANGRI-LA IS THE META-NARRATIVE THAT STRIVES TO ILLUMINATE PROGRESSIVE CULTURE AND OTHER-WORLDLY ENTERTAINMENT.
Interactive installations and wrap around venues, ground breaking live art and performance, epic-scale subversive artworks and multifarious music programming unify to inspire and engulf its audiences.

Shangri-La holds a mirror up to the masses, challenging people in politics and play. Creating conversations, force-feeding the senses, expanding minds and opening hearts. There are No Spectators.

The fantasy field in the furthest corner of the festival has a deep history in outsider art and underground culture. This spirit continues to manifest in original and new ways to inspire the next generation of cultural revolutionaries and amplify the collective conscience

Two Tone · 22-06-2016 01:55PM

I would be a liberal - or left of centre anyway. But this hyper sensitive stuff, encouraging people to be victims and to politicise everything at all costs, calling for moderate conservative (or not even conservative - just in the centre!) voices to be silenced, denial of actual occurrences because this means criticism of members of a non white Christian group (but no issue with criticism of e.g. the Catholic Church, Irish society) - well if that's liberal, it's not my kind of liberal.

22-06-2016 01:57PM

Silly auld shiite.

Womb_Raider · 22-06-2016 01:58PM

All the easily offended go off to their own little echo chamber. The rest have the craic.

Everyone's happy.

Outlaw Pete · 22-06-2016 01:59PM

The Guardian of course are fully behind it.

In response to the news Garbage's Shirley Manson tweeted:

https://twitter.com/garbage/status/740224566123986944

storker · 22-06-2016 02:00PM

ibarelycare wrote: »

Ridiculous. Sure anyone could walk up and tell them they "identify" as a woman.

I'm a lesbian trapped in a man's body. Can I get in?

SEPT 23 1989 · 22-06-2016 02:04PM

the whole point of going to a musical festival is to listen to music get drunk take drugs and fcuk

what the hell is wrong with these headcases?

How Soon Is Now · 22-06-2016 02:04PM

Get all the ****ing weirdos in there and seal up the exits do us all a favour!

timthumbni · 22-06-2016 02:09PM

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

Just reading about this today and personally I just can't see a need for a venue / safe space at Glastonbury.

Seems to me that this is yet more pandering to a certain hyper sensitive fraction of society. I have no issue with women having female only gigs if they really want them (nor men having all male ones for that matter) but at such a historic music festival as Glastonbury I feel they are unneeded, to put it mildly. How could any form of segregation lend to a state of equality and isn't that what we as a society have been striving for all these years. A society where we treat both sexes equally and fairly. What says your good selves?

The sisterhood will be hard to spot as they are so far up their own arse.

A club of screaming attention seekers.

Wibbs · 22-06-2016 02:11PM

Yep, standard operational pandering. Keeps all the notice boxes and easily triggered numpties in one place as a bonus mind you.

andekwarhola · 22-06-2016 02:12PM

I already have a safe space from Adele, Coldplay, mud and fcukwits with dreadlocks and bongos.

It's called my house.

Duggy747 · 22-06-2016 02:15PM

mariaalice wrote: »

SHANGRI-LA IS THE META-NARRATIVE THAT STRIVES TO ILLUMINATE PROGRESSIVE CULTURE AND OTHER-WORLDLY ENTERTAINMENT.
Interactive installations and wrap around venues, ground breaking live art and performance, epic-scale subversive artworks and multifarious music programming unify to inspire and engulf its audiences.

Shangri-La holds a mirror up to the masses, challenging people in politics and play. Creating conversations, force-feeding the senses, expanding minds and opening hearts. There are No Spectators.

The fantasy field in the furthest corner of the festival has a deep history in outsider art and underground culture. This spirit continues to manifest in original and new ways to inspire the next generation of cultural revolutionaries and amplify the collective conscience

Where do people go to college to learn how to write up this kind of pretentious, self-congratulatory bullshít?

As for the safe-space venue, in the UK it's really just another thing added to the list of making it socially acceptable to segregate particular types of people. Things like these aren't progressive, they're regressive echo chambers.

I can't agree at all on encouraging the idea of victimising people, genders and race while at the same time encouraging those to be strong, together and accepting of everyone. It can be dressed up in whatever progressive terms people while attach their political ropes to but it all still feels like the segregation and profiling of people.

"Be accepting of everyone...........except that straight white male over there, he's privileged."

There's way too many ideologies these days clashing with each other.

Pickpocket · 22-06-2016 02:16PM

How Soon Is Now wrote: »

Get all the ****ing weirdos in there and seal up the exits do us all a favour!

...says the fella with a profile pic of Morrissey.

Wibbs · 22-06-2016 02:16PM

This "safe space" nonsense tells me a few things; someone asking for one is mentally/emotionally weak. Someone asking for one is a child. Someone demanding one is a spoiled child.

Outlaw Pete · 22-06-2016 02:16PM

I think Christina Hoff Sommers and Camille Paglia sum all this stuff up beautifully and succinctly in the following clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvFrfaYvtfc

utyh2ikcq9z76b · 22-06-2016 02:16PM

Open misandry,its a disgrace! imagine if the reverse had happened. Male shaming is the norm now.

ibarelycare · 22-06-2016 02:20PM

I'm really curious to hear from the people who selected "yes" in the poll....

The_Valeyard · 22-06-2016 02:21PM

This is all a plan by the Russians and Chinese to make us nice and weak for when they invade.

Or......

This is just an incredibly stupid and ludicrous idea.

andekwarhola · 22-06-2016 02:21PM

On a serious note, I'm more amused than offended by it.

It's a silly gesture within a certain cultural demographic (like university) where you've come to expect such twaddle and the rest of the world just keeps moving along.

Wibbs · 22-06-2016 02:21PM

Kaya Small Medicine wrote: »

Open misandry,its a disgrace! imagine if the reverse had happened. Male shaming is the norm now.

Eh no. A bunch of scary haired tie dyed vegan crusties in a tent should engender an overreaction like that. Yeah, let's imitate the daftness of these ghobshítes. Great plan. Not.

How Soon Is Now · 22-06-2016 02:22PM

Pickpocket wrote: »

...says the fella with a profile pic of Morrissey.

And?

daveharnett · 22-06-2016 02:26PM

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

How could any form of segregation lend to a state of equality?

I'd see this as a symptom rather than a cause.
There's a demand for x-only clubhouses out there, so the market will supply them.

VinLieger · 22-06-2016 02:28PM

ibarelycare wrote: »

I'm really curious to hear from the people who selected "yes" in the poll....

Asking them to explain their opinions probably is triggering them as its a perceived micro aggression which invalidates their experiences.

IE they are scared to back it up cus they know its stupid

Two Tone · 22-06-2016 02:28PM

Wibbs wrote: »

This "safe space" nonsense tells me a few things; someone asking for one is mentally/emotionally weak. Someone asking for one is a child. Someone demanding one is a spoiled child.

Victimhood fetishising. I'm a staunch believer in not blaming a person for being bullied (as in, actual bullying now, not being super sensitive) but in cases where a person is just being super sensitive, it's really important to encourage they stand up for themselves, grow a thicker skin, soldier on and show they're not bothered... this is being lost in the "You're a precious flower" avalanche.

One of the biggest critics of it that I know is a black lesbian single mother in London! She says the culture of fear of offence there is a huge problem.

Is a Glastonbury 'safe space venue' really necessary?

Was a Glastonbury 'safe space venue' really necessary? 185 votes

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