Gym Fitness for Women

What's wrong with single-sex health clubs, golf clubs etc?

Sometimes you just want to be amongst your own gender. Is that so bad? http://www.iwf.org/news/show/18883.html "For example, Martha Burk, President of the National Council of Women's Organizations, launched a crusade against Augusta National Golf Club, home of the prestigious Masters' golf tournament, for its men-only membership policy. Her protests, which attracted far more reporters than protestors, starkly illustrated how far modern feminism has strayed from the concerns of mainstream American women."

Public Comments

1. Nothing's wrong with it, and no that's not so bad.
2. Its all depend from which perspective you see it.
3. According to the radical feminist it is only bad when men do it. I have no issues with clubs or membership based on sex.
4. Nothing, I think it is more about quality, price and service. Let's say there are three golf courses in your area and two are lousy and the other one is for men only. Then you would as a woman be kind of upset by that. A woman's only bar might work for a lesbian club or maybe in a large center but in a smaller center it wouldn't work. So they do ladies' nights instead. Then men get angry and sue when they have their own clubs. A man's club would do well anywhere but some like upscale clubs and others like downscale clubs. Then there are those who like something in between.
5. Well, if such clubs were truly and completely social in their scope, then there wouldn't be a problem. However, the cold hard reality is that such private clubs are oftentimes bastions of the white male power elite. Many of the social, political and economic decisions that affect us all are made at those clubs. Don't believe me? Just look at some of the people who are members. It's quite a roster of the rich, famous and influential: Bill Gates, co-founder and chairman of Microsoft Warren Buffett, American businessman and one of the world's wealthiest individuals Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric James D Robinson III, former CEO of American Express Harold "Red" Poling, former CEO of the Ford Motor Company John T "Jack" Lupton, former Coca Cola bottling magnate and member of Forbes 400 List Carl Sanders, former Governor of Georgia Sam Nunn, former United States Senator T. Boone Pickens, Jr., well known oil tycoon and member of Forbes 400 List Mark C. McKinley, Member of the McHedley Society and a well known oil tycoon like Boon Hugh L. McColl Jr., Former CEO of Bank of America John F. McGillicuddy, Former Chairman and CEO of Chemical Bank, and its predecessor, Manufacturers Hanover Corporation and that's just a few...see link below Do you honestly think these captains of industry are not talking business while they're playing golf? Private clubs are really just another version of smoky, backroom politics...a way to hold onto the status quo than allow for real change to take place in a democratic fashion. So, for that reason, excluding women, racial and religious minorities is considered wrong. Yes, there are private clubs that are women membership only, like the Cosmopolitan Club in NYC, but they do NOT have the same sort of overall power and influence that the all male private clubs do. Also, right wing, conservative, anti-feminist groups like the Independent Womens Forum (IWF) have absolutely no credibility. They don't speak for the average woman any more than NOW does. So you really shouldn't take their word alone as being the end-all and be-all of what all women think of this or any other issue. Maybe you should read what Ms. Burk has to say on the issue in her own words. See 2d link below.
6. The funny thing is that no-one considers the business angle. Just think; most businesses advertise like crazy to appeal to a broader customer base. Even those that operate in specialist niches wouldn't mind more. So why would a business go about reducing its customer base on purpose??? Restricting women who can afford its prices because they're women? Simple. There are in all men, some times (and in some men, all times), when you want to be with other men. Whether its a bunch of regular guys watching the game, or these 'refined' gentlemen sipping Chardonnay, it's a universal, though occasional, desire. Therefore, if you cater for this need, you can make money.
7. I think people should be allowed to have single-sex clubs if they want to. Surely if this woman wants to join a golf club there must be plenty of unisex ones, or possibly even all-female ones?
8. Here where I live there are a two bars that I love and they are women only. There are a hand full of gyms and countless social organizations that are women only. Is that sexist? No, I don't feel as though it is. How is a men only golf course or social club any different? It's not in my opinion. I love having women only spaces. Why is it only sexist when men do it?