A female participant photographing the landscape in my Magic of Cowboys workshop.
Why Women-Only Workshops?
I have been asked numerous times by women to host a women's-only event. I have decided to host two over the next year to see how well it serves my clientele. The reasons why women have asked for this are diverse, but here are a few of their reasons for such a request:
• Camaraderie of fellow women in an all-women event
• Comfort level (some partners/spouses of women perceive safety to be a potential concern and thus are more comfortable when the know their wives/partners are attending a women's-only event)
• Some women have had personal histories of abuse where trust becomes an issue. They have requested a preference for women's only events.
• In some cases (certainly not all), women have reported experiencing arrogance, condescension, or rude behavior by certain men who have attended mixed-gender photographic events. It reportedly has stifled their photographic experience.
• There are other reasons, but these are some of the most commonly reported.
I am exploring this option via two initial women's-only workshops:
In both of those cases, I have offered an identical mixed-group option so as to not discriminate by gender in any way.
Some have asked why I do not offer a men-only workshop. Well? I haven't had any men tell me they wanted one! I also, being female, will have a hard time leading one of those!
I am also grateful to Tamron USA for sponsoring these events. They, too, have noticed an uptick in the number of requests they have had for women-only events and were gracious enough to sponsor these events of mine.