InvestigationMutual aid, networking, conferences, activities … Riding on the #metoo wave, these private clubs across the Atlantic promote a feminism that builds on emancipation through social success. According to the good old patriarchal standards of capitalism.
The queue is growing at the entrance to the Wing in West Hollywood. On the program of this private club: "Pitch Perfect". On stage, this December 16, 2019, five teams of entrepreneurs will present their business project to a jury of professionals. When the doors open, at 6 p.m., nearly two hundred members (the "winglets", in house jargon) rush into the great hall of this social club of a new kind. The walls are painted in pastel colors, the atmosphere is girly without being nunuche, above all highly instagrammable.
With the exception of the few Latin technicians who make sure that the PA system works properly (and a tall, shoddy guy who says he is one of the start-up’s boyfriends), not a man on the horizon. But puffy afros, blond curls, high heels and sneakers, sophisticated braids and boyish short hair… The Wing is a club for women, for all women. Here, feminism is resolutely intersectional: from skin color to sexual orientation or gender, it encompasses the fight against all forms of discrimination that women may face.
Girl power strategies
Anty Diakite, 27, recently moved to Los Angeles from New York. Member of The Wing for a year, she brought a friend. They had already come together during the last Ramadan. " We are Muslim, she explains, and there was a halal buffet to break the fast. As a black woman, I am particularly attentive to events for women of color, but I also really appreciate evenings like these, which celebrate networking and the power of business creators. It’s very inspiring. "
Before the stars of the evening enter the scene, the conversations start in the tail of the buffet, where guests generously garnish their recyclable wooden plates with cheese, cold meats and crackers. Networking goes best with a small glass of wine or a cocktail with flavors of girl power (the Magda Carta owes its name to a young Peruvian feminist and poet, Magda Portal; the Beyhive, with the good taste of cinnamon, is a tribute to Beyoncé).
The Wing’s communications director Zara Rahim, a petite 30-something Indian woman, kicks off. She is enthusiastic about " power that is expressed when women come together to make their projects exist. " And change for a time into a dining room chair. " Applause for our partner, Pantene ! ", she concludes. The members take their places opposite the stage on the round-shaped armchairs where a cloth bag stamped with the shampoo brand, filled with samples, awaits them.
