A woman has blasted her friend for hosting a ‘man-free’ wedding and excluding her own father and brother from attending the special day – as she claims her decision is wrong and sexist
When it comes to creating a guest list for your wedding, most people soon realise they have more people in their lives than they first thought. But one couple has taken a unique approach to cut down their guest list – banning all males from attending their ceremony, including their dads and brothers.
Confused by this, a woman has taken to social media to share how her friend, Lisa, 34, and her fiancée, Sophie, 35, have decided to have a ‘man-free’ wedding. She said: “I’ve known both of them for several years and I am (or at least was until this whole debacle) quite close with Lisa so I was not surprised that they’ve invited me to the wedding.
“However, on the invitation it was noted that it’s a “man-free” event, meaning that no men are allowed to be there. Despite not being a man myself, I felt that it was a weird decision on their part.” As the woman is on good terms with Lisa’s brother, 28, she decided to message him to try to understand their reasoning for banning men from their special day.
She added: “Apparently both him and his and Lisa’s father are not invited (he doesn’t know about Sophie’s family but assumes it’s the same with them) and he has no idea what prompted the rule, he says that at present it has understandably turned into a whole family dispute.”
After hearing this, she made up her mind about declining the invite because it’s sexist to exclude an entire gender. She said: “I think I wouldn’t have gone anyway because not allowing the presence of any men at all just feels weird to me, but especially in light of the information I got from Lisa’s brother I called her to say that I will be unfortunately unable to attend.
“She asked me why and I tried to make up a good excuse, but I’m a bad liar so after she pressed me for a reason I told her the truth – that I think the no-men rule is weird and I don’t want to be involved in that. I did not tell her that I contacted her brother, just that I’m not a fan of events segregated by gender.”
However, Lisa branded her a “bad friend” for refusing to support her and Sophie for wanting their wedding to be “women-centered”. Wanting to know whether she’s in the wrong, she said: “I told her that it would be centered on women anyway, considering that both of the people getting married are women. She hung up and I have not heard from her since, but Sophie has been sending messages saying I have internalized misogyny.
“I personally think I behaved reasonably, but Lisa and Sophie evidently disagree, so am I the asshole in this situation?” While most users praised her for declining the invite, others shared their thoughts on the couple’s ‘man-free’ wedding, with many agreeing it’s ‘unfair’. One user said: “That’s really cringe and you’re correct not to be supporting something like that.”
Another user added: ” If it’s a hill she wants to die on the friendship isn’t worth trying to save.” A third user said: “I am a heterosexual male and have been married to my wife for 34 years. We have a diversity of friends and coworkers. I would not attend a male-only wedding and my wife would not attend a female-only wedding. There has to be mutual respect for everyone. It sounds like your friend is the one with an issue and not you.”
