Why women-only spaces still matter

Holding space for girls and women allows for much-needed empowerment and healing

Woman and a girl scout stand in front of a group of men.
(Image credit: illustrated | J. A. Hampton/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images, Rick Kern/Getty Images for Marisol Deluna, iStock/m-imagephotographym-imagephotography)

"What do you think of the Boy Scouts admitting girls?"

It was the last day of The Compact, a California-based feminist summer camp for women and gender-variant adults, which I was attending. A half-dozen of us sat chatting around a picnic bench, enjoying the sun filtering through the redwoods. As the question hung in the air, there were sighs, groans, eye-rolls. The consensus was clear: "Just don't mess with the Girl Scouts. Please."

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Zoe Fenson

Zoe Fenson is a freelance writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her writing has appeared in Longreads, Narratively, The New Republic, and elsewhere. When she's not writing, you'll find her doing crossword puzzles in cocktail bars or playing fetch with her cat.