Augusta National's Policy Against Women

I’m going to start this entry with another quote by Betty Friedan, which will link into my topic of today.

“Men are not the enemy, but the fellow victims.  The real enemy is women’s denigration of themselves.”  -Betty Friedan

Her point was that as long as women view themselves as victims and as second-class citizens, men are going to see them in that same light.  Women need to stand up and say. ‘Hey!  Women’s rights are human rights!’

I was having a discussion with a very good and well-educated man probably about a month ago about Augusta National’s policy against admitting women members.  (For those who don’t know, Augusta National is a private golf course, and the number one course in the United States.  One of the major championships, The Masters, is held there every year.)  It rather shocked me how adamantly he defended the course’s right to exclude women from membership.  But he kept hitting the same points.  Constitutionally, as a private organization, they have right to exclude whomever they want. 

I understand their rights fully.  I attend a private women’s institution that doesn’t admit anyone who has been born a man.  But as a course that hosts The Masters, a national tournament, and a course that profits from this tournament, they are making clear to the public their statement against women.  Their active practice of discrimination goes deeper than just allowing women to join the club.  It says that women are not good enough to be members of their esteemed institution.  In fact, they said the same thing to African Americans until 1990, but since women aren’t a minority group, they can get away with not allowing them in. 

I’m not saying that Boy Scouts of America should start admitting women, or that Girl Scouts should start admitting men.  Each of these groups has a clear aim, which is to help shape young minds into service-minded and oriented adults.  And they do this in an environment of a single gender, because it’s a place where these children can, presumably, be more comfortable and learn more about themselves.  Augusta National is different.  They are a club consisting of grown men whose average age is 72 and who, as businessmen, have no problem gaining money from women, but do have a problem with offering them equality at their prestigious club.

The man I was debating with, and who happens to know a lot about golf, pointed out that every single member of their club must be invited to be a member, and it was simply a matter of time until they invited a woman.  Well now.  At this course, the members consist mostly of the nation’s top businessmen (normally I would say and women, but in this case it does not apply).  Well, in 2002, the US Bureau of Labor stated that 7.9 percent of females in the workforce were among the top ranked in Fortune 500 companies, and 5.2 percent were among Fortune 500 top earners.  Clearly, it is an equality issue.  There are women who are just as competent as men in the business world, but the men are being picked over women as members of this club.

They won’t allow women membership, but they will allow them to play as guests and allow them in as spectators at The Masters.  Similarly, the corporate sponsors of The Masters clearly value the business of women, but choose to affiliate themselves with a club that denies membership to women.  I see this as a double standard.  Women’s money is good, but women themselves are not.  In response to this, Augusta National cancelled corporate sponsorship in 2003, but how did the event gain such national and international acclaim in the first place?  The corporate sponsors from previous years.

Furthermore, The Masters is one of PGA’s (Professional Golf Association)four major championships.  The PGA’s policy for tournament venues states that the host facility's "membership practices and policies do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion or national origin.”  What??  What?!!  Clearly, Augusta National is the exception here, because it’s not “technically” a PGA tour event, but an “invitational”—similarly to the “invitation” they send to MEN in extension of membership.

Now I’m not a golfer, but I love golf.  I’ve grown up watching it, I’ve been around it all my life, and as I write this entry, it’s in my down time in my work in a bag room at a private course (a course which, though private, extends membership to women).  I understand Augusta’s right to exclude women from membership but that by no means makes it just for them to do so.

Yes, there are more pressing issues facing women today, but it would be an incredible statement for Augusta to (finally) admit a female member.  However, they had better choose her carefully, because if they choose someone with a similar disposition to my own, she might just decline.

-Mac at Smith