Considering all the discredit she has brought to her cause, Martha Burk
would seem to be an unlikely person to head up the powerful National
Council of Women's Organizations.
Her problems started back in 1997, when Burk wrote "The Sperm Stops
Here" in Ms. Magazine. In that article, Ms. Burk advocated nothing less
than mandatory birth control for men. These are Burk's
own words:
"Mandatory contraception beginning at puberty, with the rule relaxed
only for procreation under the right circumstances (he can afford it and
has a willing partner) and for the right reasons (determined by a panel
of experts, and with the permission of his designated female partner)."
When Burk appeared on CNN's
Crossfire,
she got hammered. Co-hosts Tucker
Carlson and Debbie Schlussel ridiculed Burk's proposal as "weird,"
"wacko-bizarro," and "pretty authoritarian even by the standards of
feminism."
Then there was the embarrassment of last April.
The Augusta National Golf Club is a private organization that believes
it has the right to set its own membership rules, just like the Ladies
Professional Golf Association and the Women's Tennis Association. But
Martha Burk didn't see it that way. She wanted them to admit female
members.
Ironically, it was women who mounted the most spirited opposition to
Burk's crusade. Allison Greene, who founded Women Against Martha Burk,
explained it this way: "I haven't spoken to one woman -- in Augusta or
any place else -- who supports her.I can't figure out her motives, but I
can tell you this: It's certainly not to further the women's movement."
Representative Sue Burmeister took issue with Burk's carpetbagger
tactics: "I don't like it that I have Martha Burk coming down to my
district and trying to force a private organization to do something they
don't wish to do at this time."
On April 12, when the sun rose over the manicured greens of Augusta,
only a handful of women were there to wave their placards in support of
Burk's cause. And Augusta chairman "Hootie" Johnson stood tall. As
columnist
Wendy
McElroy concluded, "Burk deserves derision for making
women's rights into a circus of trivial privileges."
But step aside, because Martha's circus is now moving to the center
ring.
Recently Burk unveiled Phase Two of her feminist jihad. Repeating her
tired complaint that the Augusta National Golf Club "openly and proudly
discriminates against women," Burk announced her Women on Wall Street
initiative. Here's how it works:
Burk's National Council of Women's Organizations has partnered with law
firm Mehri and Skalet, which bills itself as a "leading legal authority
on glass ceiling, sexual harassment, and pay discrimination issues."
Next, Burk identified those corporate giants whose top executives belong
to Augusta: American Express, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway,
Citigroup, Franklin Templeton, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and
Prudential.
Finally, Burk is inviting women who work at those corporations to
file
sex discrimination lawsuits if they "feel" they have been mistreated.
Of course, Burk's campaign amounts to little more than a shakedown of
capitalist America, a strategy that would make any 1960s radical proud.
But once again, Burk has miscalculated. She forgot to check her donor
roster.
Kimberly Schuld's Guide to Feminist Organizations details the financial
supporters of the 180-odd members of Burk's National Council of Women's
Organizations. And many of her groups count on corporate largess from
the very same organizations that are being targeted by the Women on Wall
Street program.
American Express, Bank of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and
Prudential - all have provided financial support to NCWO-member
organizations. American Express has been especially generous, opening
its corporate wallets to the Ms. Foundation for Women, National Women's
Law Center, National Council for Research on Women, and Planned
Parenthood.
One of these days the corporate leaders of America are going take their
cue from Hootie. They're going to tell the radical feminist movement
they will no longer tolerate the bullying and intimidation.
