BETTY'S VIEW: Men need a quiet space, women too

IT HAS been reported that one of the last havens for men, a men's club, is now to be open to women.

Betty Lowis. Picture: Contributed

IT HAS been reported that one of the last havens for men, a men's club, is now to be open to women.

When I was young, it was a time of respect for ladies.

Gentlemen used to tip their hats and caps to them.

I know of one man who still does that. He lives in the district where I grew up.

No gentleman would swear or tell rude jokes in front of ladies and have them swoon all over the place.

I believe that is why they had men's clubs, so men could have somewhere to relax and not have to be careful about everything they said.

I can understand the women's side of all this, too.

During World War II, women came out of their kitchens and went to war.

They did a fantastic job working in munition factories and as army nurses, ambulance drivers and mechanics.

Who could blame them for wanting to go back to a servile life after the war?

Seventy-three years on and now women swear and tell off-colour jokes with the best of them, some can drink more than men.

The days of soft drinks and light shandies (lemonade with a dash as I've heard it called) for ladies is long gone.

It is fair that we now have the right to vote, unfair that we don't have equal pay for equal work.

We owe it all to earlier brave women who took a stand, but now we are going too far.

Women now complain when men won't give up their seats on buses and trains to them or pregnant women.

Of course, some men still do, but we wanted equality and now it is everyone for themselves.

Another aspect of all this is whenever the sexes are together, fights usually break out. I remember at our old-time dances, there were fights most Saturday nights - someone hitting on another fellow's girlfriend or nasty things about a bloke's sister.

We are all human. Men need somewhere peaceful to go unwind in this hectic world of ours, as well as women.

Betty Lowis is a Bundaberg artist and writer.