It was not until 1898 that women were allowed to join the Meeting. Although the Society of Friends was egalitarian in many other respects, the participation of women in meetings for business - as opposed to meetings for worship - had been contentious since its beginning. Founder George Fox's model was a middle way between exclusion and total inclusion: men and women were to have separate meetings for business, communicating by the passing of messages. The perceived benefit of this system was that it made it easier for wives to have different opinions from their husbands. When as in London the male membership was unusually wealthy and powerful, female interests often went unheard. (All meetings now have mixed membership.)
