Augusta National and the female question
Two rites of spring for many Georgians arrive today: the first round of the Masters in Augusta, and opening day for the Braves (albeit in New York this year). I’m a bigger fan of football than baseball or, especially, golf. But whether it’s because of the length of the season, the arguably greater unpredictability of the game, or simply the fact that it takes place in nature’s own season of renewal, there’s nothing quite like the blue-sky optimism of game No. 1 of 162 for a major league baseball team. (For the record, I like the Braves’ chances of making the postseason as long as we get health from the pitchers and merely average years from the hitters.)
As for the Masters, for the first time in awhile part of the storyline there centers on the Augusta National’s lack hitherto of female members. This once hot discussion was rekindled when a woman, Virginia Rometty, became chief executive of IBM — a position that, because of IBM’s longstanding role as a sponsor of the golf tournament, traditionally comes with the green jacket of club membership. Augusta National’s leaders have long said the club would accept a woman as a member at a time of its choosing. Will Rometty’s ascension at IBM trigger that choice?
Frankly, I couldn’t care less. Many women have played golf at Augusta National, so this isn’t even a question of access. The club is a private organization, and it has as much right to stick to an all-male membership as the Boy Scouts have to accept only boys, and the Girl Scouts only girls. As someone whose own chances of joining the club are only infinitesimally greater than the chances of every woman in the world, I have a hard time getting worked up about it either way. Augusta National can maintain or change its ways and deal with whatever public criticism comes its way. No skin off my back.
What I do find interesting, however, is that this discussion about equal standing for women would be renewed during our era of demonizing “the rich” and “the 1 percent.” Could there be any less meaningful sign of equal standing for any group than the acceptance of one of its members into a private club for the 1 percent of the 1 percent of the 1 percent?
– By Kyle Wingfield
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190 comments Add your comment
Tom(Independent-Viet Vet)
April 5th, 2012
7:57 pm
It is a private club right? Let them admit whomever they want, it is none of the public’s or govt’s business? Doesn’t the NAACP or New Black Panther party restrict who it’s members are?
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 5th, 2012
8:15 pm
“This country was founded on equal opportunity. Constitutional medicine is equal opportunity”
Nelson, government was established to protect people from both excessive government and those who would take your life, liberty or property through the use of force or fraud.
Please explain to us what role government has in determining the membership of a private organization.
rivercard
April 5th, 2012
8:16 pm
Kyle,
Don’t often get a chance to agree with you, so I must take the chance to do so. I could care less about who the 1%’s invite to join them in rolling around in their piles of money. This is the kind of meaningless symbolism that some of my brethren on the left seem to so enjoy. In case they haven’t noticed there is a real war being waged on the rights of all women in this country.
Linda
April 5th, 2012
8:20 pm
gm@7:47, That’s a crock. Both ABC & NBC have admitted that they “edited” both visual & sound bites in their reporting. These were deliberate means by these corrupt media sources to incite violence by blacks, who were USED by the corrupt main stream media.
At least Al is on the front lines with the people? He’s there for his own personal agenda, not in the best interests of blacks. He is anti-black.
You & yours are being USED by black thugs who want nothing more than to prevent blacks from advancing out of poverty. As long as blacks are in poverty, Sharpton, Jackson, etc. are LEADERS!
Linda
April 5th, 2012
8:21 pm
Real@7:52, I did.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 5th, 2012
8:36 pm
“In case they haven’t noticed there is a real war being waged on the rights of all women in this country.”
A contrived one, certainly.
rivercard
April 5th, 2012
8:43 pm
Tiberius – If you had to be penetrated with a wand before being allowed to post we would see how contrived you really thought it was.
Linda
April 5th, 2012
8:49 pm
rivercard@8:43, If you had to be given an IQ test before being allowed to post, you would not be here.
Linda
April 5th, 2012
8:54 pm
rivercard, Did Tiberius get the best of you? My goodness! Happy Good Friday tomorrow & may God bless you!
rivercard
April 5th, 2012
9:03 pm
Linda – Funny and typical someone as nasty, uninformed and vile as you invoking god.
Dave
April 5th, 2012
9:08 pm
Linda,
Your obsession with President Obama is not health, nor normal. NSA must be watching you, or should be.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 5th, 2012
9:13 pm
rivercard, please provide any evidence whatsoever of your claim that women are being forced to be “penetrated with a wand” through actual, national GOP polices.
Any at all.
Any.
Dusty
April 5th, 2012
9:13 pm
Well, well, absolutely! Without a doubt! IF I ‘m not against it I must be for it. Now…..WHAT WAS THE QUESTION?
The Masters? Who’s head of the monastery? NO? Women? The mothers of humankind?
There’s a greater question to be answered here. Why would anyone WANT to play golf?
Let uis have a moment of silence, please. The Braves lost today. Maybe they should let women play! Nawwww….
tiredofIT
April 5th, 2012
9:20 pm
Some just need to feel special … just not that important in the scheme of things.
Linda
April 5th, 2012
9:22 pm
rivercard@9:03, I didn’t invoke God. It was our Founding Fathers who invoked God. Actually, it was the Pilgrims who invoked God. All our freedoms & rights came from God. Say your pledge of allegiance. Count your bills & coins. Try to take an oath.
Patriots are neither nasty, uninformed nor vile.
Happy Easter!
Liz
April 5th, 2012
9:24 pm
I personally wouldn’t want to join any club managed by Billy Payne. He embarrassed this state during the ‘96 Olympics. Could they have been any tackier?
Do you remember all those Georgia Open Records battles to obtain access to the records so that the public could look into those questionable gifts (some considered bribes)?
Linda
April 5th, 2012
9:31 pm
Dave@9:08, Actually, I wondered about that & I have decided that I would rather go to jail than give up my right to free speech. NSA, the IRS, etc. can watch me all they want to, but liberals like you will NOT ever intimidate me. Liberals like you just make me lay in wait for the next Tea Party meeting. Thank you for your motivation.
rivercard
April 5th, 2012
9:38 pm
Tiberius- Where did I say that women were being wanded due to national GOP policies? I didn’t, although I suspect the national GOP has no issue with the attempts of certain states to do so.
Those states happen to all be controlled by Republicans. Coincidence , I guess.
Dusty
April 5th, 2012
9:38 pm
Happy Easter to you, Linda. It is a wonderful season I hope you will enjoy the wonder that it brings.
Even my flowers seem to be celebrating. I still have camelias, petunias, some red roses and a few dogwood blooms left. Very special time.
td
April 5th, 2012
9:43 pm
Linda
April 5th, 2012
9:31 pm
I agree 100% with you Linda. I post the same things on my Facebook account as I do here. I also will tell the NSA or whoever is reading these blogs that when they come to get me for exercising my 1st amendment right they are going to have to pry my 2nd Amendment right out of my cold dead hand.
jconservative
April 5th, 2012
9:46 pm
FRom the AJC:
“Coca-Cola has cut ties with a conservative Washington group accused of supporting voter suppression — one with strong connections in Georgia’s Legislature — following an online petition and phone protests from activists.
The Atlanta-based beverage giant said Thursday it discontinued its membership with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC),…”
Does this mean that the more “sensitive” members of the conservative movement will boycott Coke?
Me? I don’t drink the stuff at all. I could care less who Coke supports.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 5th, 2012
9:47 pm
“Where did I say that women were being wanded due to national GOP policies?”
So, rivercard, then you admit your “war on women” comment was a lie? Or just an error?
Or is it simply contrived as I have stated?
Hillbilly D
April 5th, 2012
9:50 pm
An excellent Easter song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sTG771NAm0
Hillbilly D
April 5th, 2012
9:51 pm
I don’t drink the stuff at all. I could care less who Coke supports.
It’s good for cutting grease off a car windshield but don’t let it get on the paint.
rivercard
April 5th, 2012
9:52 pm
No it is being done at the state level as I said. The eleven states requiring unnecessary ultrasounds to have a simple cell clump removal procedure are not contrived.
Linda
April 5th, 2012
9:53 pm
Dusty@9:38, Augusta National would be jealous of my yard of azaleas that I planted myself years ago. They are breath-taking. Don’t want no golf balls in my yard. Happy Easter to you, too.
Dusty
April 5th, 2012
10:00 pm
My goodness, what’s this world coming to?
Women not members and not playing at the Masters! No Missuses?
Women not drinking Coca-Cola! Pepsi?
Women being attacked by “wands”!! Magic?
Billy Payne did a booboo at the Olympics? Hey, wait a minute! He’s not a woman! Oops!
Sorry. Off subject!!
Linda
April 5th, 2012
10:12 pm
td@9:43, ME, TOO! I’ll say right here to the NSA that my 1st amendment right is right next to my 2nd amendment right, but there’s a bunch of them both inside & outside of my home, in every vehicle, depending on my rights or my husband’s rights & our pet’s rights. That’s about as confusing as I can get.
Liberals think that sparklers work. I’ve got some of those, too, for children.
Dusty
April 5th, 2012
10:19 pm
HillBilly D 9:50
Thank you for the nice music. I enjoyed that. The video was a little hard to take ini places but the ending message is always our hope and joy.
Dusty
April 5th, 2012
10:24 pm
Linda,
My azaleas are blooming too. I forgot to mention them. Most of mine were once little shrubs I brought from Savannah that my father had rooted. Always nice memories connected to them.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
April 5th, 2012
10:30 pm
The Braves did nothing in the offseason and will be the same team they were last year…slightly above average pitching, zero offense.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 5th, 2012
10:35 pm
“The eleven states requiring unnecessary ultrasounds to have a simple cell clump removal procedure are not contrived.”
So, can one have a “war” if one doesn’t have an organized action?
I do not think so.
Contrived.
Dusty
April 5th, 2012
10:36 pm
Aww come on, Lil Barry,
The Braves just couldn’t get warmed up in NYC. They need a nice spring day in Atlanta and off they will go. You’ll see.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
April 5th, 2012
10:41 pm
The Braves strategy every year is to hope that several of their retreads and low-rent players have the season of their lives, all at the same time.
Linda
April 5th, 2012
10:45 pm
Obama has weighed in on the Augusta National debate as to whether they should admit women or not. See my comment above.
What Obama does not understand is that all women can not be bribed to vote for him. He thinks that he can get votes for women by giving them free contraceptives. Is he a pimp? Those “free” contraceptives are used only by young women who don’t want to have kids. What about younger women & older women who aren’t covered by Obama’s charity?
What women want are:
shampoos & sets
haircuts
manicures & pedicures
massages
shoes
handbags
perfume
candy
flowers
maid service
Obama hasn’t even scratched the surface for swapping women’s votes for bribes.
Dusty
April 5th, 2012
10:48 pm
Well, let’s just say that many have potential and hope that many will have a great season. Now won’t that be fun? ( And a surprise!) Go Braves!!
G’nite…..
rivercard
April 5th, 2012
10:52 pm
Tiberius – Voting and passing a law seems like a fairly “organized ” action. Just because the “war” is being waged by Texas, VA, etc doesn’t make it any less of a “war”
Now that you mentioned it I should have simply said in many states there is an organized effort to infringe upon the rights of women. These states are controlled by Republicans and supported in their efforts by National Conservative Groups Using “war” might be a bit hyperbolic
I came here to agree with Kyle and still couldn’t get out clean. What was I thinking?
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 5th, 2012
11:04 pm
“Using “war” might be a bit hyperbolic”
Thank you for being open and honest. It’s the hyperbole that gets so many here on this blog into trouble on both sides.
rivercard
April 5th, 2012
11:08 pm
“. It’s the hyperbole that gets so many here on this blog into trouble on both sides.”
*********************************
Fair enough and agreed. Easy trap to fall into. Until next time………
td
April 5th, 2012
11:16 pm
I think Bill O’Reilly said it well tonight. Paraphrase: It is obvious to see that Obama is trying to build a coalition of the aggrieved.
In other words all the whiners of society are voting for Obama.
Linda
April 5th, 2012
11:23 pm
rivercard@10:52, You should have stopped digging while you were still in the hole.
There are No “states where there is an organized effort to infringe upon the rights of women,” especially “controlled by Republicans.” You are delusional at a minimum.
Linda
April 5th, 2012
11:44 pm
rivercard, Your tactics are the same as Obama’s. Women can see through you as if you as if you were a skeleton. Typical liberal! Liar & user!
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 5th, 2012
11:52 pm
Linda, I’ll take up for rivercard in one instance. There are, according to posts made on here, states which are trying to add intrusive examinations for women wishing to have abortions, clearly in an effort to dissuade them from doing so. And those efforts are being championed by Republicans.
Is it a “war on women”? No. But these efforts do go too far in my estimation towards invading the privacy women should have regarding their bodies.
Linda
April 6th, 2012
12:12 am
Tiberius, the Declaration of Independence, our Founding Fathers, said that God gave us the unalienable rights of Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness. What is is that liberals don’t understand about that life word?
What is more important: the body of the the child or the body of the woman who conceived that child? Whose rights are paramount?
What is more important: the property of the woman’s body or the property of a living child?
JKL2
April 6th, 2012
12:13 am
getalife- Lets all thank President Obama for saving our country from the w disaster
Who are we going to thank for saving us from the o disaster?
JKL2
April 6th, 2012
12:18 am
Kyle- Augusta National’s lack hitherto of female members
Where’s the presidential intervention? o luvs him some golf. Any excuse to avoid trying to do the job you were elected to do. Stick your nose in there and save them helpless females. We need someone to help these people…
Augusta National is obviously run by a bunch of evil racist Republican 1%ers. If there was ever a Demwit target, this ought to be ground zero because they meet every demographic the DNC hates.
Attack Dog
April 6th, 2012
5:40 am
The GOP say that they are not a war with women, but come November women are going to vote as if they are.
Attack Dog
April 6th, 2012
5:43 am
It’s pretty funny. President Obama has a better chance of joining Augusta National than 99.9% of all Dixiecrats and 100% of all women.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
April 6th, 2012
6:02 am
No, Augusta National also has a policy prohibiting America-hating fascists.
Mary Elizabeth
April 6th, 2012
7:14 am
From MarkV: “. . . the restriction of the membership there to males only is an anachronism, and sooner or later it will change.”
==========================================================
The Old South has been known for its long-standing paternalism, not only for African-Americans but for women. When I began teaching in 1970 in Georgia, for example, women teachers were not allowed to wear slacks in which to teach – which was common in NYC – unless they, also, wore a covering jacket, which had to extend downward below their hips. (I kid you not.) That paternalism had been common not only in the South, but also throughout the nation, until the early Twentieth Century, when women were finally granted the right to vote – decades after African-American men had been granted that right. However, paternalism has had an especially strong history in the South, and the remaining vestiges of it can be seen in present day decisions made by the Augusta Masters’ governing Board regarding women’s membership there.
Paternalism is, by its nature, hierarchial in worldview, not egalitarian. The world is rapidly moving toward an egalitarian vision of humanity, from a hierarchial one. The fact that the Augusta Masters has not already accepted the CEO of IBM, who happens to be a woman, as one of its members – especially since IBM is one of the sponsors of the Masters – is, as Mark V stated, anachronistic.
The correlation between the so-called “Top 1%” and the Augusta Masters’ view of women is that both share a hierarchial worldview of others, or a worldview that some are “more equal than others” based on a pecking order of either gender or money considerations, instead of an egalitarian worldview that all are inherently equal simply because all are human beings.