The author smiling with Hugh Fitzpatrick, who was totally not cool with her being there. All photos via the author
Ah, old boy's clubs: the Masons, the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffalos, the Adventurer's Club of Los Angeles, the Stonecutters. While men-only clubs are generally agreed to be dated and embarrassing, they still exist—and, where they do, occasionally cause controversy.
I recently got pulled into a small flap over an annual dinner held by the St. Patrick's Society, a men's club in my hometown of Saint John, New Brunswick. Although it's existed in more or less its current form since 1928, I only learned about it when a friend mentioned plans to attend a dinner with a speech by Nova Scotia Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph Kennedy. As a journalist, I'd heard of Kennedy, an outspoken advocate for improving court-media relations and member of the Canadian Judicial Council's Public Information Committee.
"Cool," I said. "Where's that? I should come."
"You can't really do that. It's a men-only event," my friend said.
Youthfully incredulous that such things still existed, I read through the online event listings—but none of them mentioned the no-women rule. So I called Hugh Fitzpatrick, a septuagenarian who has belonged to the society for over 50 years, and asked if it was really true I couldn't get a ticket.
"You'd better tell me who you're buying them for," he said, when I asked about tickets. "It's a men's dinner. There's no women allowed. We are a society of gentlemen," Fitzpatrick said.
"You really don't allow women?" I asked.
"I'm no chauvinist, but the only thing better than an Irish woman is an Irish man," he said.
"Uh. Well. Ok, then."
The conversation petered out lamely. Frankly, I'd never been so unapologetically dismissed on the grounds of being a woman. I did what any reasonable person would do: I tweeted about the weird situation. Within a few hours, CBC called; they'd seen the tweets and wanted me to do an interview on the evening news, then on a regional call-in program. Suddenly, the St. Patrick's Society Dinner, of which most of the world was blissfully unaware for the entirety of its 87-year history, was the subject of a miniature media storm. I was suddenly obligated to check this thing out.
Server Joanne Martin, who's braved the men-only event for decades
The thing was, I wasn't the first woman to attend the St. Patrick's Society Dinner. Former Saint John Mayor Elsie Wayne made a recurring gag out of crashing the event, on one occasion disguising herself as a server, on another reportedly dressing as a giant potato (a.k.a. the official ceremonial dress of New Brunswick.) I wasn't even the only female journalist ever to attend; former Telegraph-Journal photojournalist Kâté Braydon and probably many other female photogs got assigned to the event numerous times, and Braydon says she was always welcomed. ", who is an accomplished woman, told me an unflattering photo of me was on the CBC website," said the Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice. "My mother told me it's not polite to insult the host, but, gentlemen, it's 2016. This is Saint John, NB, not Saudi Arabia. Isn't it time you did the right thing?"
Official society badge and media accreditation
Hugh Fitzpatrick still got in a few parting jabs. "Honestly, I wouldn't have let you in. The reason why this has been good for so long is because there's no women. And honestly, it would've been just as good without you."
A progressive gesture. Some disses. Whatever. Really, no one was paying attention. A room full of grey heads bowed, focusing intently on buttering the rolls which had just come out. The gents tipped back beers, clapped to "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling." In short, the old boy's club turned out to be a typical senior business set soirée—not much worth the fuss. And, typically, the unrequested young woman wasn't terribly missed when she took her leave.
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