Book Review of 'Cult of Power' by Martha Burk

1. Historical background of discrimination/inequality/injustice exhibited in your book.

Although gender inequalities and sex discrimination have existed in different forms throughout recorded history, Cult Of Power by Martha Burk focuses mainly on modern discrimination against women in the American workplace. Burk copyrighted her book in 2005and sets the main event of her book, the blatant sexism exhibited by Augusta National Golf Club,in 2002 making Cult Of Power a current work of literature on gender inequalities in the
workplace.

However, to understand how and why the plot of Augusta National's exudes sexism, past events to further women's rights in the workplace must be taken into account. Before World War I, very few women were employed; and those that were employed worked mainly in sweatshops. During World War I, women entered the workforce as there was increase in demand for workers. This phenomenon repeated during World War II when over 16 million men joined the war in Europe and opened up even more opportunities for women (2). During most of
this time (1920-1950), marriage bars, which restricted married women from employment, were systematically eliminated (3). In 1963, the Equal Pay Act was amended to the United States Code and restricts employers from discriminating "...on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees... at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex... for equal work on jobs..." (4).

In 1972, Title IX was passed, resembling the Equal Pay Act but applies instead to education instead of employment. Since women entered the workforce and the passing of these amendments, female employment began normalizing as legal and social discrimination towards working women lessened.

Despite these gains in equality and laws that prevent discrimination, women were still viewed as inferior to men in the workplace, experiencing fewer opportunities, sexual harassment, exclusion from company events and the wage-gap between men and women still existed (1). In April of 2002, Burk stumbled across a USA Today article about Augusta National Golf Club's entwinement with the Master's Golf Tournament and its exclusion of women from membership. As chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO), Burk took it upon herself
to take action against Augusta National's policies towards women. What started off as a friendly letter to the Chairman of Augusta National, William W. Johnson became a media feeding frenzy and publicity stunt that lasted the entirety of Burk's book. As there is no law that restricts discrimination policies which applies to private clubs, Johnson believes that it is his right to invite whoever he wants into his club; which is apparent when looking at the fact that Augusta National has never extended an invitation to a woman since its formation in 1932 (1).
The controversial publicity generated by this feud has lead to much research by Burk about exclusion of women and how even non-business events such as membership to a private club can impact the opportunities and equality of women. Throughout Cult Of Power Burk motions for Augusta National's policies to be less discriminatory while the club retaliates aggressively to the point where Burk feared for her safety when participating in public protest.

2. Effects of oppression or injustice in terms of assimilation, denial of economic
opportunity, lifestyle choice, incarceration etc.

Discrimination against women in the workforce is a vicious cycle and self-fulfilling prophecy. Burk believes that men oftentimes hold a majority of the power in top positions throughout the country in government, business, religion and even education. Reoccurring statistics show that within these institutions, despite employing a fairly even number of men and women, the number of women diminishes as the statistics move up the hierarchy of power. Burk reinforces the power disparity multiple times in her book, citing statistics such as "Women are only 5.2 percent of top earners in the Fortune 500", "Close to 90 percent of board seats in the largest 1,000 corporations are held by men", 98 percent of CEOs in the Fortune 500 are male", "Women... still only make up only
13% of Congress" (1). (Page 121, 160)

Private clubs that discriminate against women such as Augusta National play a vital role in keeping these statistics in favor of men. On the surface, Augusta National's policies may seem like an exercise of their rights under the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble..." (5).

Legalities aside however, this discrimination is ethically wrong and robs women of opportunities that are often conducted at private "social" clubs and on the golf course, instilling a belief that power and employment belong to men, supporting a culture that links masculinity to power, dominance and control and allowing sexual harassment to occur, such as the Citigroup incident where men gave a female trader a putter made out of a bull's penis during a company golf outing (1). The rare women who do find power in the top seats of America are forced to assimilate,
often finding that "being successful required becoming a man" (1).

3. How has the Justice System-either Civil or Criminal- responded to the inequality?

Unlike the aforementioned discriminations, which are difficult to measure and target, the law has taken action against quantifiable inequalities such as hiring rate, universities admission rates and the gender wage gap. The gender wage gap is one of the most publicly recognized gender inequalities. Women routinely earn less than men for the same work, explaining why marketers often target gay male households; single males living together have the highest disposable income of any groups (1).

The Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII Title IX all help to remedy inequalities including racism and sexism. Since the passing of these acts, the wage gap has decreased from women making 38% less than men in 1970, to 20% less in 2004 (6), as well as improving the quality of life at work for women.

Unfortunately, there still needs to be more steps toward equality in the workplace. Although there are amendments that specifically target discrimination based on gender or race, these are all complaint driven equalities. There are no routine audits to a company's hiring or pay policies so the only way a corporation can be punished for discrimination is if the employee complains or files a lawsuit. With the burden of initiating the assurance of following compliance, the complainer is in a bad position where they risk being labeled as a troublemaker, assigned to undesirable duties or even fired. If taken to court, the complainant is fighting an
uphill battle where the corporation has more resources and time to commit to winning a legal battle, often forcing women to give up as they run out of time or money. Because of these difficulties, it is no surprise that most women simply move on to the next job and as Burk predicts, "At the present rate, it will take three hundred more years to reach parity with their male colleagues" (1) (Page160).

4. What are possible solutions in terms of societal change, litigation, education that might
or have remedies the injustice?

Even if these amendments do not solve the problem of gender inequality completely, Burk fortunately has a few excellent suggestions to eventually solve the problem. Most notable is her idea of installing positive momentum laws opposed to complaint-driven laws., which Unlike the latter, positive momentum laws actively push the government and corporations to take action and not just "theoretically conform to a prohibition and wait to get sued if they don't" (1) (Page158). Examples of positive momentum laws already in effect include the Pay Equity
Statute in Ontario, Canada which mandates corporations with more than ten employees to evaluate the work done by employees and adjust pay upward to equality and California's Paid Family Leave Law in 2001, which supports both mothers and fathers to take a paid leave for family events, effectively creating more equality between "ownership" of the workplace between men and women (1).

No matter how many laws are passed however, gender inequalities will always exist unless the root of the problem is fixed: the preconceived notion that men are worth more in the workplace relative to women. This preconceived notion starts with the CEO and top management of any institution, people who systematically happen to be men that Burk believes to horde their power. To fix these views, top management will need to take steps to equalize the pay gap and promote a corporate culture that welcomes women. Companies need to start
auditing their employment to ensure that they are not biased against women instead of just waiting for a complaint. Lastly, society needs to accept that there are no "gender roles"; women should be recognized as a part of the workforce and applicable for executive positions and men have just as much commitment to the home and family that women do. Once the "gender lens", a term dubbed by Burk to encompass how each gender is viewed by each gender, is taken off, then there will be no need for laws to regulate gender equality in the workplace.