boys’ club
boys’ club – noun
old boys’ club – noun
The boys’ clubs placed great emphasis on sport, particularly boxing.
He is particularly well known for his many years’ work with Boys’ Clubs.
Hollywood, as a whole, is guilty of being a boys’ club.
The Bay Area is infused with an enthusiasm and openness that is just not present in the old boy’s club that is the East Coast.
She calls it the boys’ club mentality, a perception she worked against during her time as a Marine.
Un boys’ club è un’associazione di promozione sociale che offre attività per i ragazzi svantaggiati o vulnerabili. Oggi, molte di tali associazioni si rivolgono anche alle ragazze, e ciò si riflette nei nomi, come dimostra il Boys and Girls Club of America, che conta sedi in tutti gli Stati Uniti.
Questo significato letterale è ben lontano dal senso figurato, applicabile a qualunque sistema, organizzazione, professione o attività (dalla politica alla giustizia, dal settore bancario a quello imprenditoriale, dal mondo cinematografico a quello sportivo) in cui gli uomini – specialmente uomini bianchi facoltosi – dominano e sono favoreggiati a discapito di altri membri della collettività, come le donne, le classi lavoratrici e le minoranze etniche. Si parla anche di girls’ clubs, ma per ovvi motivi quasi sempre nel significato letterale e non in quello figurato.
Origini del termine
I primi Boys’ Clubs statunitensi sorsero in Connecticut nel 1860, a cui seguì l’organizzazione a livello nazionale nel 1906 e poco più tardi la nascita di associazioni analoghe nel Regno Unito. Del significato figurato si ha notizia solo a partire dal 1979 circa.
Traduzione di Loredana Riu
boys’ club – noun
old boys’ club – noun
The boys’ clubs placed great emphasis on sport, particularly boxing.
He is particularly well known for his many years’ work with Boys’ Clubs.
Hollywood, as a whole, is guilty of being a boys’ club.
The Bay Area is infused with an enthusiasm and openness that is just not present in the old boy’s club that is the East Coast.
She calls it the boys’ club mentality, a perception she worked against during her time as a Marine.
A boys’ club is a social organization offering activities for boys, especially disadvantaged or vulnerable ones, often run by a charity. Many now cater for both boys and girls and this is reflected in the names of organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club of America, which has local groups all over the US.
This literal meaning is a far cry from the figurative use, which can be applied to any system, organization, profession or activity dominated by and favouring men, and especially prosperous white men, while excluding those from other less advantaged groups such as women, working class people or ethnic minorities. The term boys’ club can be and has been applied to all areas of life, from government to the law to banking, film-making, business and sport. The term girls’ club also exists, but for obvious reasons it usually occurs in the literal rather than the figurative meaning.
Origin
The first US Boys’ Clubs were founded in Connecticut in 1860, and the first national organization was formed in 1906. Boys’ clubs sprang up in the UK at around the same time and with the same aim of providing safe, healthy pastimes for young working-class boys, many of whom were already in employment. The first recorded figurative use dates from as recently as 1979.
