Women-Only Beaches: The Debate Continues

Every time a new women-only travel option makes the news—recently, we’ve noted the revival of women-only hotel floors, and even an all-female hotel in Saudi Arabia—the question is the same: Is this new development a rare oasis for women, or an obstacle to full equality?

That question is raised again by this Agence France-Presse report about the growing number of women-only beaches popping up in Egypt.

Many of the women interviewed for the story seem thrilled to have the option. “It is wonderful here,” said one, adding that the mixed-gender beaches were “unbearable.” Meanwhile, the founder of Egypt’s first single-sex beach defended the practice, arguing that he was catering to “the needs of the community.”

But for me, that’s the catch: If mixed-gender beaches are so uncomfortable for women that they can hardly bear to visit them (“I have no other option but to go to a women only beach,” said one woman), can single-sex beaches really be called luxuries, places that women visit by choice? In some ways I can see the fun of lounging for a day at an all-female beach with my friends—but when the visit becomes my only choice, it rapidly loses its appeal.

Related on World Hum:
* Women’s Travel E-Mail Roundtable

Photo by kashmir via Flickr (Creative Commons).

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