I am impressed that pubs have changed so much that they are “the hubs of communities” (Britain’s pubs: we’ll soon see the value of them, but will it be too late?, 29 November). As a nearly 70-year-old woman, that was not my experience from my teenage years onwards – at least not until pubs became eateries rather than just drinking dens. For me – and possibly for other women – pubs were always alienating, white male territory.
Girls and women were made to feel either unwanted, or leeringly wanted in a very specific way. It took courage to overcome this long enough to down a drink or two. I have some very specific memories associated with pub-going, ranging from seeing a young mother with a baby being treated with such hostility she quickly exited, to an academic conference where all the men sidled off to the pub together at the end of the day, leaving all their female colleagues behind.
So, although I have sympathy for the wrecked incomes of pub tenants and owners, and I accept that the unwritten male-only rule no longer applies, I still find it hard to join in the chorus of laments.
Terri Kelly
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
