Where is Our Titt Club?

1869 saw the first wave of female students enter Cambridge, and though we might never replicate the history of the Pitt Club, that’s definitely enough time for a tradition to have developed around a female equivalent. The values behind a ‘members only’ club that serves as a place to bond aren’t necessarily male. So where is our Titt Club?

Aside from the popular myths and the favoured public school bashing, the concept itself seems appealing. A place removed from college, tutors, and work, where members can enjoy a drink in good company whist romping around in black tie sounds attractive whatever way you look at it. Such clubs have existed for centuries, from the Pall Mall to the Bullingdon. Their founding principles are based around common interest. The Reform Club, for example, restricted membership to those who supported the 1832 Reform Act, whereas Traveller’s Club required its members to have ventured at least 500 miles in a direct line from the British islands.

These criteria were obviously impossible to meet by most nineteenth century women, but times have changed. The Athenaeum Club for instance, started admitting women in 2002 and many others have or had already followed suit. If  clubs are designed around a common interest then there’s no reason why women shouldn’t have their very own versions. Given that we no longer sit at home waiting for our husband to have cleared through his cigarette case, but have our own social lives, a club could be an opportunity for like-minded, successful women to celebrate their interests and achievements – whether in the realms of sport, theatre or writing.

There’s The Osprey’s – but what if you’re not a blues lacrosse player? And why is their website so garishly pink? Successful female students should be able to celebrate their achievements outside the realms of the ADC bar or society meetings. They deserve a women’s club with all the rewarding luxuries of the male equivalents. Where successful female students can mingle and solve world peace (minus the horrendous membership fees, ideally).

And as we’re committing to the single-sex thing, let’s not forget all the benefits that come with that. Frustrated of tiresome abusive ‘banter’? An exclusive women’s club would offer the busy lady a chance to relax away from the penetrative glares of the male predator. Cambridge’s most eligible bachelors – or bachelorettes – may of course receive the occasional invites; the prospect of a few dapper young men in an enclosed space doesn’t sound too bad, and, for once, it won’t be us doing the parading.

So if this Valentine’s Day encouraged you to just celebrate your love or your single status, now’s the time to reflect on the roles women have not just in relationships, but at university in general. This is ultimately reflected in the structures that keep the doors shut to women without providing them with an equal alternative. Let’s call for our own Cosmo and leather sofas. The ones at the Union just won’t do.

READ: The Cambridge Companion to: The Pitt Club