A famous Dublin swimming club known for male nude bathing based at the Forty Foot site mentioned in Ulysses has again voted to ban women from becoming members.
The Irish Times reports that the exclusively male Sandycove Bathers’ Association will continue to ban women from its ranks.
The Association, founded in the late 1800s, voted 24 to 17 not to allow women to join at a specially convened meeting.
The Forty Foot in Sandycove has been available to men and women for the last 25 years.
But a secluded section to one side of the Forty Foot has been a male preserve for years and nudity is widely practised.
The club also operates two huts - one for changing and one with clubhouse and kitchen facilities – which are not available to women according to the report.
Annual fees for maintenance are accepted from women but this does not entitle them to membership of the Association.
A petition signed by more than 20 of its 170 members called for a motion to change its rules to allow women members over 18 but the proposal was defeated.
One anonymous member told the Irish Times: “The atmosphere at the meeting was quite intimidating with an underlying tone of misogyny.”
Local Labour Party councillor Jane Dillon Byrne, a regular swimmer at the Forty Foot, described the outcome as a ‘gigantic disappointment’.
She said: “Sometimes in winter a kind member with a key to the changing hut might allow a woman leave her clothes there but if she used it to change and others found out there would be a revolution.”
4 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.sarababe55 | Mar 27, 2013, 10:47 PM EDT
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IrelandNorth | Dec 03, 2012, 08:42 AM EST
Why do bathers need changing rooms if they go skinny dipping? What do they change into exactly? And hmmm! What's with this "... gigantic disappointment" mullarkey? I expect male members fear the presence of women might 'give rise'(?) to certain eventualities. Or worse still, that the menfolk concerned might not 'stand up to scrutiny'(ahem!) Not least on cold wet wintry days with temperatures Joyce referred to "scrotum shrinking". Maybe those women in Sligo swimming nude for charity should besiege the 40'.
saraindc | Dec 01, 2012, 11:48 AM EST
Seriously they are doing us women a favor - have you been there lately - they are the uglies looking bodies floating around out there - fat, pale, beer bellies, blotchy overweight men - im delighted i dont have to worry about walking by there and seeing nude men - none of them are worthy of public viewing!!!!
Thomas84 | Dec 01, 2012, 09:31 AM EST
Well if i was running the place the ban would be on the fellas :D