OT: triple yikes...Augusta National will have....

[easttexastrash]

There are always those who will argue that social ills, discrimination, and injustice just magically can end without activists and fighters for justice paving the way. Women's suffrage? Why if those horrible suffragettes had not been out in the streets causing a ruckus, it would have happened way back in 1905. Jim Crow and segregation? Why if those marchers down in Selma had been more respectful, it would all have been done away with a lot sooner. But, of course, because entrenched powers are always happy to jump up and do the right thing as soon as some nice person asks them to.

Fact is, there are just some of those militant, uppity, noisy women like Martha Burk or Selena Roberts with the A-Rod steroid-popping articles and book that we just love to dump on. Oh yeah, Augusta was just falling all over itself to include women years ago, but Burk made them get all hurt and pouty, and that blew the deal Shame on you, Martha.

But glad Augusta finally got persuaded to slowly and tepidly and minimally to enter the new millenium. And for all of you b-tching about not being able to join all those women's-only groups you've been hankering after, if you still have some kick in you and can do a pretty face I'm sure the Rockettes can also be persuaded to do the right thing for you.

Awesome post!

 

[stamfordhusky]

Oh yeah, Augusta was just falling all over itself to include women years ago, but Burk made them get all hurt and pouty, and that blew the deal Shame on you, Martha.

There's no question that women would have been admitted before now had the Augusta membership not been pressured.

 

[stamfordhusky]

The golf course is closed down in the insufferably hot summer months of July and August, the logic being that gentlemen (and, now, ladies) don't golf in such beastly weather.

Actually it is closed from the start of June into October, which is one reason why conditions are so perfect and why they can easily make major changes to the course to keep up with longer clubs and golf balls.

 

[Kibitzer]

There's no question that women would have been admitted before now had the Augusta membership not been pressured.

Yes, there is a question. Yes, pressure was applied and became so intense that sponsors of the Masters knuckled under and withdrew. A fellow named "Hootie" Johnson became the bad guy, portrayed in media as both a racist and a sexist.

So "Hootie" simply (about 2003, I think) put the Masters on TV with no sponsors for a couple of years.

Truth is that this guy was not some dumb prejudiced redneck but that he had a long and highly admirable record of support for both women and African-Americans in his home state of South Carolina. His worst trait was surely plain stubbornness.

The Masters played on, the sponsors gradually returned, the hue and cry died down, and the ladies got their invitations. Whether the pressure applied by Martha Burk and others sped this up or slowed it down may be argued both ways. In any event, now that Augusta has made its move, other private clubs may find it easier to remove their own barriers to admission.

We can hope.

 

[alexrgct]

A barrier has broken. Of course it's a win.

Yes- for Condi and one other woman whose reality in no way, shape, or form resembles that of most working women. And by most, I mean virtually all.

This is 2012- think "we" are well past celebrating that a couple of rich chicks get to be members of Augusta National. There are barriers of actual social importance that have been broken over the years. This is not one of them.

I'm not endorsing gender discrimination. Just think exclaiming "we won" when "we" is still going to be an extraordinarily exclusionary subset is pretty silly.

Now, the fact that there are more women in medical school than men? That's a real change worthy of celebration.

 

[alexrgct]

There are always those who will argue that social ills, discrimination, and injustice just magically can end without activists and fighters for justice paving the way. Women's suffrage? Why if those horrible suffragettes had not been out in the streets causing a ruckus, it would have happened way back in 1905. Jim Crow and segregation? Why if those marchers down in Selma had been more respectful, it would all have been done away with a lot sooner. But, of course, because entrenched powers are always happy to jump up and do the right thing as soon as some nice person asks them to.

Fact is, there are just some of those militant, uppity, noisy women like Martha Burk or Selena Roberts with the A-Rod steroid-popping articles and book that we just love to dump on. Oh yeah, Augusta was just falling all over itself to include women years ago, but Burk made them get all hurt and pouty, and that blew the deal Shame on you, Martha.

But glad Augusta finally got persuaded to slowly and tepidly and minimally to enter the new millenium. And for all of you b-tching about not being able to join all those women's-only groups you've been hankering after, if you still have some kick in you and can do a pretty face I'm sure the Rockettes can also be persuaded to do the right thing for you.

Did you really just compare Martha Burk to the women who fought for suffrage and civil rights activists? Let's not get carried away.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Did you really just compare Martha Burk to the women who fought for suffrage and civil rights activists? Let's not get carried away.

Alexergct, the question here is about activism in a fight against discrimination. Now you may not feel that what Burk was pushing for had much merit, but she and her supporters for anti-discriminatory measures against women did, and sure they can feel good that Augusta finally shifted it's all-male tush a bit and let Condi and Moore squeeze in.

There are some activists around here fighting for housing measures that they believe are discriminatory. No it is not on the august level of the women's suffrage and civil rights movements, but they feel they are part of the ever-continuing battle against discrimination and unjust politics. Should they be belittled for linking their efforts to the larger movements they admire? Not in my book, but you can choose to view it as you see fit.

Of course, it also depends on personal politics, because that is generally what we use to form our opinion of activists. I admit I can't really cheer on the activists who believe the are being discriminated against because they can't bring semi-automatic rifles into NYC movie theaters to defend themselves, while I assume that many of them would not have been happy when the Stonewall activism erupted. It's all in our values.