There were waves of applause when the notoriously stuffy and stubborn Augusta National chair finally buckled down and let females in. Everyone was elated and proud that they had finally entered the modern age with their change of thought, but in the long run was this a true step in the right direction towards female equality or was this merely a flimsy appeasement act to silence the critics?
This year in particular there seemed to be even more echoing cries for Augusta National to change their rule which barred female admission, so with the mounting pressure came the recent decision to relent to the masses. Augusta National prides itself on prestige, with their invitation only membership the average Joe has about .000 percent chance of ever becoming a member. But what about the average Jane? The admission of Condolezza Rice (former secretary of state) and business woman Darla Moore really give no glimmer of hope to an average successful woman making a high-end salary within Augusta’s bracket. Condolezza Rice was at one time the most powerful woman on the planet and still is held in the highest of esteems; Darla Moore is co-owner of a successful investment firm and has a networth of over $2 billion dollars. Tell me how is that inspiration to the average self made woman whose supposed to view this as some sort of inspiration and sign of change to come? This feels very much like a backhanded move in which Augusta National got their cake and ate it too, as they got the side of female support by just picking women who could most probably buy Augusta National yet alone hold membership.
I’m reminded of a Chris Rock line from his special ‘Never Scared’ when he was explaining racial relations between blacks and whites. He said “When you’re white the sky is the limit. When you’re black, the limit is the sky” that’s quite akin to what it often at times feels like to be a woman even in the 21st century. The average man with a lot of money can hold dear to at least fathoming the thought of gaining membership, but women damn near have to be the rulers of the Free world or have more than a billion dollars in the bank. For every step women’s rights takes it seems like we often leave a little bit of something behind. As a female I look up and see the glass ceiling getting only that much more streakier and streakier and all groups like Augusta National seemed to have done was just spray a little windex on it and say ‘close enough’ instead of removing it altogether.