The Scoop: It’s no secret that women are sometimes left out of the “boys rooms” in many different aspects of life, especially when it comes to work and pleasure. Rather than have their desires or needs met, plenty of women experience disappointment in their sex lives with men. Skirt Club seeks to change that narrative. As an internationally recognized sex and dating group, Skirt Club has created an empowering and discreet space for bisexual and bicurious women to explore their bodies — and those of other women. From the boardroom to the bedroom, the club’s goal is to help women take their power back in a sexy, exciting way.
Over the past few decades, the dating world has changed tremendously in terms of how and who people love. Thanks to a number of factors, our society has become noticeably more progressive in how we accept — and even embrace — the LGBTQ+ community. This means the umbrella of the queer community has grown as well. According to a 2021 Gallup poll, 57% of LGBTQ+ Americans surveyed — representing 4% of all U.S. adults — identify as bisexual.
Bisexuality, the attraction to both men and women, has existed for generations. That said, those who identify as bisexual (aka “bi”) haven’t necessarily seen the same validation that other orientations under the LGBTQ+ umbrella have. The concept of “biphobia” still exists across the dating landscape and, believe it or not, even within the queer community itself. Rather than seeing the attraction to both binary genders as real or valid, some folks in the LGBTQ+ community see bi people as indecisive — that they can’t commit to actually being queer, because they’re still attracted to the opposite gender.
It was this attitude that inspired Genevieve LeJeune to create the Skirt Club, an exclusive sex and dating group for bisexual and bicurious women. Starting in 2014, the founder and CEO began gathering women together by word of mouth — which is exactly how the group has grown into the international sensation it is today.
Skirt Club Pushes Back Against Stereotypes and Stigma
Any manner of homophobia is detrimental to the progress the queer community has already made, and biphobia is no exception. By making bi people feel like they are less queer or invalid for being attracted to more than one gender, the atmosphere of love and acceptance within the community is tainted. LeJeune has been no stranger to this experience, and her desire to fight back against the stigma and biphobia largely led her to become founder and CEO of Skirt Club.
Skirt Club has now been in operation for 10 years. In 2013, when LeJeune first began hosting the parties Skirt Club is known for today, she said she had attended plenty of sex parties with her then-boyfriend. At these co-ed parties, LeJeune said she noticed a lack of focus on female pleasure and exploration — sparking the start of Skirt Club.
“I knew I was bisexual, but didn’t know how to go about meeting other women like myself. There was no club; there were gay and lesbian clubs, but there was nothing for bisexuals. In fact, it was still quite taboo,” LeJeune said.
The misconceptions and stereotypes surrounding bisexuality also encouraged the founder to make some moves. “There was a ton of stigma attached to what it meant to be bisexual. Really just misunderstandings and concepts around [bi] women. [We were labeled as] greedy, sex toys, indecisive, in the closet. So, lots of comments like, ‘make your mind up.’ I just felt so misunderstood. I wanted to meet friends who were like minded,” she said.
Rather than perpetuate these misconceptions, Skirt Club was created to foster a safe and exciting place for bicurious and bisexual women to explore their desires and form community.
Members Are Encouraged To Embrace Their Bodies
Women often get the short end of the stick in relation to pleasure. The patriarchy appears to be alive and well in Western society if one considers the existing orgasm gap. In many cases, sex is centered around men and their desires, so LeJeune created Skirt Club in the hopes that women would feel both connected with and more confident in their bodies.
When she attended coed sex parties with her former partner, LeJeune said she noticed the audacity of the men in attendance, and how they felt entitled to her, her body, and what it could do for them. Rather than serve as a source for mutual pleasure, these events seemed to present women as sexual tools or objects.
“The thing that sort of cropped up as a surprise right at the start was just how disconnected women were with their bodies. That part I hadn’t expected,” she said. “I went to these parties and I was like, ‘Oh God. I don’t know what turns me on.’ It was mostly men being aggressive and pushy, men dictating what they wanted, and women existing for his pleasure or doing things to please him in order to keep him, which I felt was wrong.”
Experiencing the behavior of these overly aggressive and forward men also inspired LeJeune to think about the power dynamics involved.
“I’d walk into this event and some guy would grab my arm, slap my bum, and they’d be like, ‘Hang on, I paid my ticket price myself with my own money from my job,’ like…what? What are you doing? But that’s how society rolled back then — men owned the bedroom and the boardroom, which I didn’t like.”
LeJeune began hosting parties of her own that only allowed bisexual or bicurious women — no men permitted — as a way to reclaim both her own power and help other women do the same. Accounts of these events started to spread by word of mouth, and by 2013 attendance soared as women realized how the parties served as an outlet for unbridled exploration and pleasure.
The Skirt Club Has Become An International Sensation
Although LeJeune and Skirt Club have seen significant success — with segments, or clubs, operating in 15 major cities around the world — the journey hasn’t always been easy. LeJeune said she has faced quite a few bumps in the road over the years, including regarding the sexual nature of the organization and the fact that it is female-founded and excludes men.
“We’ve been through thick and thin. When you’re operating a company in this industry, banking and payment processing [is tricky]. I feel like I ran through hurdle after hurdle trying to keep us alive, because so many times we were shut down by banks or had our accounts frozen,” LeJeune said. “At the time it was heartbreaking for me to think, ‘Why am I being treated like a criminal?’ I’ve always been on the side of the law, and I’ve always paid my taxes. It’s kind of condescending and so patriarchal it seemed it was almost like a joke. It felt like the boys were trying to shut us down.”
Despite the hardships, Skirt Club has carried on to become one of the premier sex and dating groups for women across the globe. Beyond connecting like-minded women who are seeking to explore their sexuality, LeJeune said that empowering them to feel confident in who they are is the ultimate goal.
From her own experience working in the male-dominated finance industry, she knows a thing or two about power and how women can take theirs back.
“I hosted sex parties on the weekend. Before I knew it, I was walking into my Bloomberg office with full-on swag. I changed entirely, and it was purely my confidence that went up,” she shared. “It wasn’t just because I was doing daring things on the weekend that most men in that office wouldn’t try — I had finally opened up to my sexuality and embraced it. There’s nothing more confidence-boosting than self acceptance. We call it self-love: I am who I am, and I accept me. It doesn’t really matter what you think… take it or leave it.”
