Saturday, September 26, 2009

Ladies: They're not just for preparing food

Much is often made of the generation gap between Masons who joined in the post WWII boom and the younger Brethren who have started joining over the last few years; because so relatively few baby boomers joined, there can be some pretty big cultural disconnects without the benefit of a generation that probably would have helped ease the transition.

Perhaps one of the biggest such disconnects that I've experienced so far is the notion of Masons' "Ladies"... a term that is meant in a gentlemanly way, but also carries with it the baggage of the Leave it to Beaver era. The old-school notion of involving the Ladies at Masonic functions often seems to revolve around inviting them to prepare a dish for some dinner or collation. Brothers under the age of, say, 45: If your spouse or girlfriend got a call from someone at the lodge asking them to make a casserole to bring to some function, what would her reaction be?

1 comment:

Carl Weaver said...

Oh boy, would I ever get an earful if that happened to my wife! You are right on. We are trying to get the ladies, kids, etc. to join us for meals before our meetings but as guests, not servants. One of our goals is to bring more of the family into the lodge.