Word comes from Martha Burk that the Augusta National Golf Club still
"openly and proudly discriminates against women." We should all be
working ourselves into a lather over that.
So now Burk's umbrella group, the National Council of Women's
Organizations, is unveiling its Women on Wall Street campaign. This
corporate
shake-down is hoping to teach a lesson to those naughty
companies that are harboring all those Augusta Neanderthals.
For sure, the members of the NCWO are paragons of female virtue, free of
any trace of gender bias or exclusion.
But then, I began to wonder. So I decided a little fact-finding was in
order.
I contacted all 178 member organizations of the NCWO, from the AAUW
Legal Advocacy Fund to the YWCA, and asked them two questions:
1. What percentage of your organization's membership is female?
2. What percentage of your board of directors is female?
Knowing that the Women on Wall Street campaign is pushing for corporate
accountability, I was confident the NCWO groups would respond freely and
openly to my questions.
So I was gratified when the e-mail responses came pouring back,
literally within seconds. Thirty-one replies, all tagged as
"Undeliverable." Well, I shouldn't have been surprised. Kimberly Schuld,
who wrote the Guide to Feminist Organizations, has warned that many of
the NCWO members went belly-up long ago.
Then, real people began to send me responses. And to my surprise, some
of them got a little defensive.
One woman retorted, "Why are you asking these particular questions? Do
you think there is some kind of problem regarding the membership or
governance of organizations that work for the empowerment of girls or
women? Does it relate, perhaps, to the Augusta National Golf Club
story?"
Another woman became downright hostile: "Dear Fake Reporter, I have been
contacted by NCWO. And I will not answer your questions."
Despite the NCWO warning to shun the Fake Reporters, 29 organizations
did respond to my inquiry. Ms. Burk, I have a bit of unpleasant news. It
turns out that eight (!) of the NCWO groups that answered my questions
do not have any male members.
The American Medical Women's Association, Financial Women International,
Gender Action, National Association of Commissions for Women, National
Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, National Hispana Leadership
Institute, Veteran Feminists of America, and Women in Military Service
for American Memorial Foundation - all are self-admitted bastions of
female exclusivity.
But wait, other problems are lurking. Two of the NCWO organizations,
GenderWatchers and the League of Women Voters, revealed that they do
have male members. But then they conceded that there are no males on
their Board of Directors. As everyone knows, that's a prime example of
the Glass Ceiling, and we can't have that.
The story worsens. Only three of the 29 NCWO groups reported that they
have more than 10% male membership. Since gender diversity is now the
Law of the Land, Ms. Burk, really, I'm shocked.
And don't give me that old line that women's organizations should be
composed only of women. We all know that gender is purely a social
construct, so obviously many biological males, with proper
socialization, could easily become gender females.
But this is the part I haven't figured out. The website of NCWO states
that its purpose is to work for "equality." Of course, males are sadly
lagging behind females in areas such as education and health.
And indeed, there are 15 health-related organizations that belong to the
NCWO. Men's lifespans are five and a half years shorter than women's,
but nowhere did I find that disparity even mentioned on the websites of
these women's organizations. So the question is, are these outfits
working for gender equality, or gender inequality?
Very confusing. All along I've been counting on the feminists to lead us
to a more inclusive, a more equal, a more caring society - a veritable
gender utopia. Heavens, something has gone terribly wrong.
