I'm just going by history. The friendship communities were
   gender separated, likely to avoid the potential for relations
   and ... honestly I think Epicurus was someone who might have
   said, "ugh, BABIES!?!?"

   So I think it was more of a practical matter than anything.   I
   might be wrong on that - Epicurus did speak of "neither male nor
   female, slave nor free" - an attitude adopted by the early
   Church.... [the epicurean influence upon early Christiandom is
   unmistakable] - yet I'd have to find a historical development
   specific to epicurean communities in the intervening 600 year
   span between Epicurus and the adoption of Christianity by the
   communities to be sure.   this is a cute little video on
   Epicurean communities. Favorite line:"But they must have
   respected the communities somehow because they converted them
   all into monasteries.

   What we know as monasteries are really just Epicurean communes
   with a Christian topsoil"

   smile emoticon I still want to research the genders within
   Epicurean communities prior to the switch. I'm _pretty certain_
   they were gender split by this point - Epicureanism, having been
   around for a very long time by then was as dogmatic and
   political as any group gets over long periods of time... but I
   have to do further research, because I find them fascinating.