The ‘Women’s Question’. The Discussion, Especially In The Nineteenth Century, About Opening Membership Of The Dutch Grand Lodge To Women

Abstract

Over the past two centuries Dutch freemasons have detached themselves from the phenomenon of having women in the lodge. In the nineteenth century the Dutch Order of Freemasons adhered to the directive of the United Grand Lodge of England in following the Old Charges, which forbade the initiation of women. Most of the Dutch lodges agreed with the opposition of the Grand Officers against the adoption-minded brethren in The Hague, arguing that adoption lodges could degenerate into sexual abuse. The prohibition of organizing adoption lodges issued by the Dutch Grand Lodge in 1813, found general approval throughout the nineteenth century. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the debate in the masonic weeklies concentrated on the issue of what were now called ?sister lodges?.Keywords: Dutch freemasons; Dutch Grand Lodge; masonic weeklies; The Hague; United Grand Lodge of England