Well, an unidentified woman has complained.
The complaint, filed by an unidentified woman, has since been supported by the Council on the Status of Women and Quebec Secular Movement.You can read all about it or listen to the CBC report here: Côte-des-Neiges under fire for offering gender-segregated swimming Sessions an 'infringment on rights': Drainville
Of course, this has annoyed people.
May Khalifa, a Ville St-Laurent resident who comes to the pool during the segregated hours, told CBC Montreal's Daybreak that her religion and culture prevent her from swimming with men.
"I shouldn't wear a swimming suit in front of men - it's my culture," she said.Drainville from Quebec Secular Movement:
"We think that this infringes on the equality of rights between men and women - which is a value that is widely shared by Quebecers," he said.
"It was not always the case that men and women were equal in this society. This is something that is now a given."
Drainville said the segregated hours sends a wrong message about Quebec, all the while using taxpayer money.Julie Miville-Dechêne, president of the province's Council on the Status of Women, agreed.
"I can't please everybody and I think my role is to think of the larger issues, and the larger issue is that we live in a secular society where women and men can be in bathing suits, swim together," she said.Yes, our culture here is a secular one. Although it seems to be framed as a cultural prohibition against mixed bathing, nobody seems to be buying it.
Personally, I'm not too sure where I stand on this one. I mean, it's only 2 hours out of the week. In principle, at least, I'm against the segregation.
The pool has no plans to cancel the segregated swimming periods.
I have to say, I'm opposed to this, for two reasons:
ReplyDelete1) Separate male and female times (even facilities) are the norm in many other fitness facilities (gyms, ice rinks, etc). Likewise, its not uncommon for pools to have dedicated time for kids, seniors, clubs, etc. This doesn't seem to be any thing more than an extension of those sorts of policies.
2) The complaint seems to stem more from why the separate times were requested, rather than the separation itself - i.e. the issue is no the separation, but rather because it was requested on religious grounds. I'm not sure the same reaction would have occurred if the separate times were provided because a Quebecois woman (or man) had requested it based on not feeling comfortable being ogled by members of the opposite sex.
That said, this part suggests the pool is gov-run (or funded): all the while using taxpayer money. I don't have an issue with private orgs providing sex-separate services. I'm unsure if gov-orgs should be doing it.
Hi Bryan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment!
I too had these thoughts, but this is a government sponsored facility. So I do not believe they should be separating the sexes. This is not unlike Muslim women demanding female customs agents at the airport. Because it's government funded I have problems with this.
That said, there are women-only gyms here in town (privately run) that are not a problem just because they are private.
I also wonder what would happen if a Pastafarian requested special time for people who wear caps with flying spaghetti monsters only.
I know it sounds like stretching the point far, but it wasn't long ago that there were segregated schools and theaters based on race... anyway...
In the end, I think we both feel uncomfortable with the city setting up restriction based on religion.
- GP