» Women Only Space h e j i r a . o r g

Women Only Space

what?

examines the new-found struggle to preserve to right and ability to gather as one when we want, as we wish. when we want to gather for our special and precious times lesbians need their own spaces, women need their own spaces, queers need their own spaces, and transwomen need to have their own spaces, bisexuals need their own spaces. just like those dudes have those clubs that don’t let any of us in.

whilst i think we need spaces to gather all together sometimes, i think it’s vital to our self-identity, celebrations and cultural growth that we also spend time gathering up in our unique groups. my particular area of interest is where women born women have to fight for their gathering spaces.

an example: the menarche should be a time of celebration. in many cultures, upon a girl’s first bleeding, the women of the family/mob/tribe have a gathering just for women. this is what i’m talkin’ bout.

my understanding of a transwomen sees that her knowledge of the world and her body, and the way the world has seen her and her body is completely different to that of a women who has spent her entire life in the same body (having the experience of being a girlchild). a transwoman is exposed to completely different experiences to one who is born a woman. she face different threats, challenges and perhaps earlier on in life she has had different circumstance to a born woman, because of gender alone. it is because of this that i feel it vital to protect the right of born women to gather up alone. and also, to protect the right of transgender women to gather up alone for reasons stated above (cultural learnings, celebrations, and self identity growth).