Even in the 21st century, it’s surprisingly not uncommon for women to still be barred
from entering certain places around the world, often for pretty dubious reasons.
Keep watching for those locations where women are simply not allowed to enter.
Designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988, Mount Athos is a collection of 20
monasteries situated on the Chalcidice Peninsula in Greece. It's run as a semi-autonomous republic,
and it's been a sacred site for the Greek Orthodox religion since the 11th century.
"It hasn't changed in a thousand years."
It's a spectacularly beautiful place and a popular tourist destination for those lucky
enough to gain access. The monasteries allow 100 Orthodox and 10 non-Orthodox
pilgrims to come to the monasteries each day. The pilgrims are allowed to stay for three days,
but they have to be men, as women are not allowed within 500 meters of the coastline.
In fact, not only are human women not allowed, but female animals are barred as well!
There's both a spiritual and practical rationale behind the ban. Having zero women is thought to
assist the monks in maintaining their vows of celibacy, and on top of that, the peninsula is
dedicated to the Virgin Mary, who's supposed to be the only woman to walk around there.
Iran isn't especially known for leading the world on gender equality,
but their policies regarding soccer games are especially bizarre.
Although there's been some movement towards change in recent years, by and large,
women are still not allowed to attend sporting events at major stadiums in the country.
The ban was imposed in 1979, after the Iranian Revolution placed a religious theocracy in
charge of the country. The justification was that mingling sexes was forbidden and that women might
witness some coarse behavior and would be exposed to men dressed in improper clothing, like shorts.
This has started to change, however. As reported by BBC News, in 2019 a woman named Sahar
Khodayari, nicknamed "Blue Girl" after the colors of her favorite team, was arrested when she defied
the law and tried to enter a stadium to watch a game. When she was released, she set herself
on fire in front of the local courthouse. The outcry led to increased international pressure,
and Iran began to allow a few women into stadiums. But many see this as a meaningless gesture,
as only a tiny number of tickets are allowed to be sold to women for any given event.
"I wish people be able- everyone, be able to go to a stadium in Iran."
Finding out that far-away places ban women from entering is one thing. But
surely in the United States, the idea is patently ridiculous. And in most cases,
it is. But not when we're talking about a certain sport with an unfortunate history of exclusivity.
There are actually still a handful of golf clubs that don't allow female members,
and one of the most egregious is Burning Tree, located in Bethesda, Maryland.
It's so dedicated to this policy that it reportedly doesn't even have women's bathrooms.
Women are only allowed for a single three-hour period in December,
so that they can shop for gifts for their husbands at the club shop. The reason this discrimination
is legal is because these golf clubs are private and therefore not open to the general public.
In recent years, many of the clubs that traditionally barred women have changed
their policies, in response to both public pressure and the cost of going against the grain.
Burning Tree, for example, pays an additional $150,000 a year in taxes
because of its discriminatory policies. And this is also an issue across the pond. In 2016,
the British Open’s organizing entity announced that the Muirfield course in
Scotland would no longer be the site of future British Opens if it remained a mens-only club.
The Bohemian Club was founded in 1872 as a private gentleman's club in San Francisco.
In 1899, it began using a campground called the Bohemian Grove for an annual retreat.
Originally a club for writers and artists seeking the so-called "Bohemian" lifestyle,
it's become a super-secret club for wealthy and powerful men, but no women. In fact,
until a lawsuit in 1978, the Club didn't even include women among its staff.
The Bohemian Club has actually conferred honorary membership on four women over the years,
but even these honorary members aren't allowed to attend the annual retreat at Bohemian Grove.
Even men find it difficult to join. According to Vanity Fair, the waiting
list for a membership can take decades. And it costs $25,000 just for the initiation fee.
"This is a place filled with secrets that only those who go inside and
perhaps the trees will ever really know."
Sometimes modern problems can lead to modern solutions. In this case, some of the country's
powerful women have gotten tired of waiting for their invitations and have created their
own parallel club known as the Belizean Grove. Founded in 1999, it doesn't allow men to join,
and it specifically works toward a cherished feminist goal: to elect a female US president.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the places that ban women do so for religious reasons.
Many of these rules were formulated centuries ago, but times change. In India, for example,
a 2018 Supreme Court ruling forced a Hindu temple with a tradition of barring women
between the ages of 10 and 50 — because they might be menstruating — to allow women inside.
The decision was controversial, though, and it set off protests. And there are other
religious shrines in India that continue to ban women, albeit often unofficially.
For one, there's the Lord Kartikeya Temple in the district of Pushkar, although it doesn't
actually ban women. It simply informs them that they will be cursed if they insist on entering.
In Hindu traditions, Kartikeya is the oldest son of Lord Shiva, and he's also the Hindu god of war.
The legend is that Shiva had his two sons, Ganesha and Kartikeya, race to determine who
would be his heir. When Ganesha won through a clever trick, Kartikeya blamed his mother
and declared that if any woman saw him she would be, quote, "widowed for seven successive births."
The city of Chicago once had many male-only "Single Room Occupancy" hotels,
which offered a single small room for a very small amount of money.
They sprang up to serve the waves of industrial workers who migrated to the city to find work.
Most are gone today, but the Ewing Annex Hotel still exists, and it remains off-limits to
women due to the specific requirements of its hotel license from the city.
The rooms are incredibly small, just large enough for a twin bed and a few possessions.
But they cost only $19 a night, or $360 a month. As reported by Block Club Chicago,
the Ewing now serves a crucial role for the city's poor and homeless.
Someone without regular income might not be able to afford an apartment or
even a regular hotel for the evening, but a $19-per-night room is often within reach.
This becomes even more important during the winter when brutal cold hits the city.
According to Streetwise Magazine, many of the Ewing's occupants have struggled
with substance abuse problems, and most of the residents have lived there for a very long time,
sometimes decades. There have been several efforts to shut down hotels like the Ewing,
as many believe that the tiny, suffocating rooms
are unfit for human habitation, but these efforts have thus far been unsuccessful.
When you think of places where women might be banned, you probably think of stern religious
institutions and ancient temples, or stuffy clubs where old white dudes smoke cigars
and chortle about suffrage. One place that you probably don't think of is the local water park.
But as it turns out, there is indeed an actual water park ride that is forbidden to women.
It's called the X-treme Faser Water Slide,
and it's located at Galaxy Water Slide World in Bavaria, Germany. As reported by The Telegraph,
the initial banning occurred in 2012 after several women complained of so-called
"intimate injuries" from the ride. People can hit speeds of up to 45 miles per hour on the slide,
and at least six women suffered injuries to their genital areas during descent.
The reason for this was a mystery even to medical experts, as a gynecological association told a
newspaper that pregnancy is the only condition that should prevent women from using a slide.
The park promised that it was developing a bodysuit that women could wear in order
to enjoy the ride safely, but the park's website still specifies that the X-treme
Faser is "only available for men." It seems that mysterious intimate-area
injuries due to water slides continue to defy all engineering and medical science.
London's gentlemen's clubs have a long history that dates back to the 17th century.
These social clubs began in a time before restaurants and nightclubs existed.
The rich and powerful needed places where they could host dinners or meet up casually. Thus,
exclusive private clubs were formed as an escape from the world, a place where men could relax and
hang out, complete with dining rooms and casinos, since gambling was legal in a private space.
White's is one of the oldest surviving gentlemen's clubs, and it was founded in 1693.
If you're wondering how exclusive it is, Prince Charles is a member. And it doesn't allow women
in its ranks. The only woman who has ever been allowed inside for a visit is Queen Elizabeth II,
who popped by back in 1991 and never went back. That means that 37 St. James
Place in Piccadilly is a discreet place in modern London where women simply cannot go.
White's isn't the only male club left. As reported by The Guardian, there's been a growing movement
to push these clubs to admit women, but several, including White's, have resisted. The problem may
eventually resolve itself on its own, though, as the membership at White's has shrunk to about 500.
If you've visited Japan's Okinoshima Island, we already know two things about you. One:
you're a man, and two: you've taken a vow of secrecy. The island contains a shrine to the
sea goddess established in the 17th century, and it's been closed to women for centuries.
The shrine was once a site for rituals intended to ensure the safe passage of ships.
Priests of the Shinto religion are permitted to go to the island in order to worship at the shrine.
Once a year, 200 men are allowed to visit to honor
the deaths of Japanese sailors during the 1905 war with Russia. But first they must
strip naked and go through a purification ritual and take nothing from the island,
not even pebbles. Furthermore, they must agree to never speak of what they see or experience there.
That last stipulation is one reason why Okinoshima is sometimes referred to as the "Island of
Mystery." The shrine itself cannot be entered without permission, and even certain words can't
be spoken. While there is no official explanation for the ban of female visitors, it's noted that
in the Shinto religion, blood is considered impure, and that includes menstrual blood.
"Another argument is that the ban protects women from the dangers of the sea."
On the island of Grande Comore, part of the nation of Comoros off the eastern coast of Africa,
there's a beach that has been open only to men since 2012. As reported by Global Voices,
Mlimadji Beach was closed to women because of "religious reasons" despite the fact that it had
previously been open to anyone for decades. Local religious leaders reportedly made the request.
This isn't entirely surprising. Comoros is an Islamic nation; in 2013,
Sunni Islam was named the official religion, and Shia Islam was banned.
Homosexuality is also officially illegal in the country. In other words,
this isn't exactly the sort of place you'd expect to find tolerant, open-minded laws.
The effort to close the beach to women wasn't without controversy.
Many in the country saw it as an effort to model Comoros on organizations like the Taliban, as well
as a direct challenge by local religious leaders to the authority of the constitutional state.
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Grunge videos about world history
are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.