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Judaism

Segregating men and women is not sexist

Religious groups should be allowed to have separate seating for men and women at campus events

January 17, 2014 18:28
Protesters in London last month denounce segregated seating for men and women at religious meetings in universities

ByRabbi Daniel Levy, Rabbi Daniel Levy

3 min read

In early 2013, several British universities followed University College London by allowing separate seating for men and women during talks organised by certain Muslim groups. At the time, Universities UK, the representative body for British institutions, issued guidelines to say it was happy with this policy, yet some journalists lamented that "the sexist eccentricities of some religions" were being given "priority over women's rights".

By the end of 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesperson had waded into the debate, arguing that "gender segregation" should be banned in all circumstances in British universities, even where audiences voluntarily separated themselves. Universities UK has now dropped its policy pending a review.

Such boundaries between the sexes have long existed in our tradition. In the Bet Hamikdash (Temple), there were places where only women could go and places where only men could enter. Within the men's section, some areas were accessible only to Cohanim and one place restricted solely to the Cohen Gadol, the High Priest. Neither men nor women complained of discrimination or disrespect.

Orthodoxy has always been clearly identified by its mechitzah and the boundaries which separate the sexes. It is as much about keeping the men away from the women, as it is about keeping the women away from the men. At a shivah house, it is not simply that women go into "another room" or move down the room, but equally that men go into "another room" or the men move down.