changes on the horizon

at the staff meeting today, our director announced that they will be considering male candidates for the management position that just opened up.

if you don't already know, i work at a shelter for victims of domestic violence. right now our staff is entirely female. the person in this position would have a lot of direct contact with residents.

this has nothing to do with how i feel about men, but i just don't know what to think about this. i completely agree that men need to be on board with the movement to end domestic violence, but i'm not sure i think this is the right place for that involvement. the shelter has a certain energy that, i think, is the result of it being an all female environment. it is a sacred space of sorts. i think there are a lot of caring and compassionate men that would probably do the job well, but i wonder how it would change the atmosphere.

interestingly, no one in the room voiced any dissent. i asked if anyone had spoken to current residents, or to our survivors advisory committee (which is a committee of women who are former shelter residents), and the answer was no, interestingly enough. it makes me sad that nobody sought their feedback before making this decision. so i'm interested in hearing some input about this. maybe i need a different perspective. maybe not. i don't know.