{Awesome GRRRLS Brisbane} IMPORTANT - Group policy on male membership

[Tiara the Merch Girl]

Dear everyone,

I had started Awesome GRRRLS as a safer spot for women, trans, &
genderqueer people to explore & play with creativity without pressure
or expectation of quality or other arbitrary standards. In building
this space I recognized that one of the barriers hindering us from
being openly creative was privilege; namely, that not being male put
us in a position of disadvantage within society.

Historically, women's creative contributions have been accorded with
less respect than the work of their make peers merely due to gender.
As the saying goes, "if a woman talks about herself, she is a
narcissist; if a man talks about himself, he speaks of the human
condition.". Also, non-male creators tended to be judged more on
arbitrary criteria, such as sex appeal, and they are often put aside
into Special interest groups rather than be considered on their own
merit.

There have also been many, many women who have suffered abuse at the
hands of men and find groups like these helpful and necessary for
healing. (there are some of up, including myself, who have been abused
by women, but we at least can know that women will explicitly be
involved.)

in light of these factors, i an enacting a policy banning men from
joining the google & meetup groups, and from attending planning or
private meetings unless explicitly invited. They are still welcome to
attend public events, join the facebook group, or read the tumblr
blog, as these are for the public.

This is a hard decision to make and has resulted in up losing at least
one member who was an enthusiastic & supportive member. However,
safety and ethics come first.

I have included trans and genderqueer people from across the gender
lines in this group, as i recognize that they may not be comfortable
or safe in a same-gender environment.

Along there lines, i would like to know: if a member of the group,
whatever their gender, was or is abusive to you, what would be an
appropriate response? Ban them, hold a mediation, limit access?

Thank you and feel free to discuss this further.

Tiara

[Ronnie Ball]

Thank you for the update, Tiara.

I would like to think that nobody in this group would be abusive to another, however I do know that abuse can happen in almost any situation. 

I think any action taken would have to be in consultation with those affected and depending on the type of abuse.  I would personally encourage mediation, mostly due my own experiences where I had the opportunity to meet the woman who assaulted me which I found to be beneficial.  However I am also aware that in some situations mediation is too mild a response and then perhaps banning is the better response.

Ronnie.