Does this matter? From many of the sneering commentaries I've been reading today, " I suspect that if the players all said what they honestly felt, their official position would be: Who cares? And also: Can we just play golf, please?" and the backlash against Martha Burk, the feminist who continues to protest the club's exclusion of women, and the silence of many famous golf players - it would seem it's a silly side issue that no one except those caught in the middle find important.

But I think it *is* important. That the backlash include pot-shots at suffragettes is important. That few care if women can enter the ranks of the wealthy and powerful and move among them as one of them is important. That a highly respected, highly visible tournament in a major sport is still an all-boys club is important.

Why?

Well, let me back up for a minute and look at a smaller picture. Have you have gone looking for women's hiking boots? I have. And I was blown away by the fact that they were damn hard to find. In this day and age? With all of my technology sector contemporaries hiking in the parks of California? before I started looking I just ASSUMED that they be easy to find. I'd trot on over to any sporting goods store and find rows and rows of women's hiking boots comparable to the rows and rows of men's hiking boots....

It's not the case. Do you remember me grousing in my blog about how I couldn't find a women's size watch with a tachymeter in it like my sweetie's got? Well, I still haven't found one and any watch maker I ask gives me that "look". Yeah, you know the one - "Why on god's green earth would a woman want a SPORTING watch with a TACHYMETER on it in HER size? Nobody makes that kind of thing. What planet are you from?"

I started noticing other things too. Like the fact that a lot of travel gear is aimed at guys. Or that steel-toed work boots ONLY come in men's sizes. (Hey! A pair of those might be nice if we do home improvement.)

I grew up with a dad who was proud of his girl's athletic achievements. My sister and I played tennis and were extremely active and healthy. We even won a few tournaments before we headed off to college. But we were also playing in the post-King post-Evert era where Martina Navratilova blasted through the sport with power and strength that the Williams sisters would later take to an artform. Is was OKAY for my sister and I to hit the ball hard! It was OKAY for us to be POWERFUL in that sport. It was EXPECTED that we'd play a game with as much drive, guts, power and sport as the guys were doing.

And it felt *great*. It was empowering, energizing and it kept us healthy and strong. Yes, STRONG. I used to be able to lift almost two thirds my own weight and regularly amazed my coworkers by moving desks and huge computer equipment with no help from the men in the department. I just *could*. It wasn't a big deal.

(Of course now, years after a computer desk job and no athletic endeavors I've lost all my muscle tone and find myself in poorer health and at the mercy of others to help me lift and move things. But that's another story.)

It's been a joyful, and throughly entertaining, experience to watch women win and play so well that they draw crowds. Women's soccer, women's basketball, etc. In watching these highly visible players you'd expect that women have finally made it everywhere within the arena of sports. At least I did. I've had a rude awakening of sorts here lately. Just go shopping with me for hockey equipment sometime.

So now I'm finding that women are still a rarity of sorts in many of the "outdoorsman" type sports. I should have noticed. Outdoorsman sporting gear is always located in that sort of "men's only" section of Walmart. You know how there's the sewing stuff over in one corner and the guns, knives and fishing equipment in another? Fishing - that's another sport I grew up with. My dad, my sister and I would fish off the Galveston island jetties on regular basis. I rediscovered it about a year ago, and I'm itching to head out to the Gulf with a pole and some shrimp for bait...

But I digress. I'm finding that, as women, we're not marketed to, or we have to search for specialty sellers for our gear in many outdoor sports. And we have to slog through the pile of fashion influenced items to find true gear.

But so what you ask? What does any of this matter when there are women dying kitchen deaths in India? Trust me, these are the kinds of issues that are at the top of many fellow feminist's agendas. Their important - OBVIOUSLY so.

But the sports question is important too, if only for the fact that women struggling with basic human rights in other areas will eventually have the "luxury" of struggling with these issues too! And women often struggle to engage in sports in even the most dire of social circumstances. I still remember reading about a group of Iranian women who loved to rock climb. There they were, climbing the face of a cliff - in full on black abayas while men with rifles took pot shots at them from the ground. That's dedication. And that's also proof that sports are important to women, and that it's just one of many important feminist issue.

Which brings me back to the Augusta Nationals. Obviously women haven't made it everywhere in sports yet. And most people acknowledge lack of women's participation, or barriers to participation in the actual sport as a shame and as something that must change. Okay then. But it seems to stop there. We can become the players, surely. We must educate marketers and sporting goods manufacturers that we're out there and change a few male-egos in the process, but there's no one out there saying we shouldn't.

But there are people saying women shouldn't attempt to enter halls of power.

Because that's what the Augusta National is all about. It's a club for rich and powerful men of golf. And it's not for women. Golf - the sport most closely linked to the powerful businessman. To the deal cemented over a leisurely game. There's a sense of business class and social power associated with the sport of golf. And one of the most prestigious of golf clubs, backing a well known and important golf tournament - the Masters - won't allow women to join. It's important to note those connections. Sport and business. Power and influence.

Society will go so far as to allow women to participate in sports. There's a nod to the idea that it's good for our health and well being and that in turn is good for society. "Fine. Let women play. I guess it won't hurt anything," is the attitude. But the moment women want to enter the hallowed halls of *power* and *money* behind the tournaments, we're jeered.

And that, right there, is the core issue. Power. Money. Influence. Prestige and networking. These are things still denied to women, and not just in golf. Others will argue that the issue here is about a private club being able to choose it's own members. I think it's more than that. I think the reactions to the very IDEA that women should be allowed into this club, the fierce resistance to it without a decent reason why, and the sadly uninterested reactions by a large majority of feminists points to that still unchanged social law. Sure, there are women among the rich and powerful and highly networked. But they are sometimes not seen as women, and they are still oddities. The accepted rules is still that women shall not wield power, and they shall not hob-nob AS one of the rich, powerful and connected unless they got there by their looks, sexuality or on the arm of a male.

Anita Borg, technologist and visionary, died last night at 10:00 pm in her home, surrounded by her family. She leaves behind a tremendous legacy, especially among the 1000s of women who heard from her that they weren't alone.

Anita was diagnosed with brain cancer three years ago, and beat all the odds by living a full life these last few years, engaged in her passions. The Institute for Women and Technology, the non-profit that she founded in 1997, embodies her dream and she spent much of the time these last few years thinking about the possibility of changing the world for women and for technology. But she also allowed lots of time for her other passions of which there were many. She and her husband traveled the world these last three years, visiting New Zealand, Costa Rica, Tahiti, and Europe, among other places.

The Institute has put together a memorial site where much of the work and her thoughts are highlighted. You can find it at the Institute site www.iwt.org

News articles:

Computer Scientist Anita Borg Dies at 54

Anita Borg, Visionary Computer Scientist, Dies at 54

Computer Scientist Anita Borg Dies at 54

Anita Borg dead at 54

Computer scientist Anita Borg dies

An incredible woman. She will be missed.

I just heard about this today: Nagwa Foundation.

Nagwa Foundation provides "medial aid, legal support, a safe house and to women in India who, because of insufficient dowry, have been purposely set afire by their in-laws or husband and are mutilated for life. We aim to achieve our objective by circulating information, among other things by means of educative street theatre and public debate, enabling women and children to freely express themselves and stand up for their rights. Finally, we aim to establish a safe house, which will be managed by the women themselves."

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