It was an innocent mistake. Sure, my lunch partners told me toget off on the 26th floor. But when the elevator stopped at 25 and Isaw the words "Tavern Club" emblazoned in front of me, and a coupleof men stepped out, well, that's where I thought I was going. So Igot off, too.
Being late, I swept past the gents. I overheard a shocked, "Whatis the world coming to?" An oversolicitous attendant approached meand escorted me rapidly to the stairs. My appointment had to be upthere, he told me, in what passes for the co-ed dining room.
And so it was. I should have known that this was a "men-only"club whose inner sanctum I had inadvertently invaded. After all, Ihad been asked to lunch by a couple of steel executives.
I guess that in this day and age, when women are doctors,lawyers, executives and, yes, even business editors, I had forgottenthat there are clubs out there that are firmly locked into an 1800smindset. They selectively allow women to darken their doors - butnever as official members.
The Tavern Club is one of those holdouts. The Union League Club,despite valiant recent efforts by some of its more enlightenedmembers, is renowned for its long-standing policy of keeping womenout. Another with an equally Neanderthal bent is the Butler NationalGolf Club in Oak Brook.
Their arguments are inane. As one pro-woman member of the UnionLeague Club told a Sun-Times reporter a few weeks ago:
"I've heard it all. From `The next thing you know, we will beselling feminine hygiene items at the cigar counter' to `Willleotards be all over the place?' `What if we get juice bars and theywant singles night?' `We won't be able to swim in the nude anymore'`What will it feel like to dog paddle with a bathing suit on?' and `Idon't want to have to exercise next to Oprah Winfrey.' "
Well, guess what, fellas? That game can be played both ways. Imean, who wants to swim next to a wheezing old fogey whose bellyhangs generously over the beltline of his bathing suit? And whowants to eat at a table next to the guy who waves around a stinkystogey while telling dirty jokes?
Oprah Winfrey probably wouldn't want to exercise next to you,either. Come to think of it, neither would I.
And an informal, unscientific (and anonymous, as a lot of theirmale superiors are prominent members of male-only clubs) survey of 10businesswomen I know indicates that nine of them would tell you guysthat you're welcome to your all-male domain.
"I can't even imagine myself being interested" in joining theUnion League Club, said one. "I don't feel it would offer me anythingpersonally. I mean, if I was going to join a club like that, I'dchoose the Metro Club or the River Club - or probably even Nautilus.Anything that doesn't come with 100 years of male domination."
Another recalled what she considered a "demeaning" experience atthe Union League Club: She was forced to take the women's elevator tothe floor where her meeting was scheduled. "That place is so dark anddreary . . . so stuffy and so Neanderthal. No way I'd ever join,even if women were allowed."
Only one woman said she would be interested in joining theUnion League Club if it ever opened its doors to women. And eventhen, she wavered.
"There are times when it would be nice to take a gentleman orfemale business client to a nice club for lunch. In my view, I'dlove to join it. It's a prestigious club. It has been around a longtime. And on that basis, I'd be interested. But it's not the onlyclub around," she said.
Interestingly, several of the women I talked to considered suchold-line clubs as being passe today. "The place to go these days isthe EBC (East Bank Club). I finally broke down and joined two monthsago," laughed one.
I guess a lot of us bow to our more militant sisters who havethe stamina to keep fighting the battle against the Union League andits ilk. But life's too short. There are plenty of places that willallow our kind. Happily.
The unfortunate fact is that the basic attitudinal problem thatexists among members of such men-only clubs is never going to changeif they are hounded into accepting us.
Sally Saville Hodge is financial editor of the ChicagoSun-Times. Her column, Etc., appears on this page every week.
No comments:
Post a Comment