Martha Burk takes a swing - protests men-only policy at Augusta National home of the Masters Golf Tournament

Progressive, The, June, 2003 by Andrea Lewis

Tiger Woods didn't win three green jackets in a row, and most sports programs I caught commented more on the commercial-free golf than on the protests happening up the road. After the tournament, Hootie Johnson, for his part, became more entrenched than ever. Sounding like Lester Maddox, Strom Thurmond, or George Wallace, he said, "There never will be a female member, six months after the Masters, a year after, ten years, ever."

But Burk is not backing down. She plans on launching a "corporate accountability campaign" that will turn up the heat on Augusta's members. "I don't think they can remain silent any longer," she said. "The choice is too stark."

The battle at Augusta National may not have a direct effect in changing women's lives, but thanks to Martha Burk, many people will not be able to look at the Masters without thinking of its history of gender discrimination and our culture's continued inability to address it seriously.

I'm a golfer myself, and I've learned how closely golf and the business world are intertwined. The major golf magazines frequently run features on topics such as "The Best Golfing CEOs in the Country" and "The Etiquette of Conducting Business During a Round of Golf." It's clear that many important business decisions are made on the fairways and in the clubhouse, and that women aren't allowed in. Through the years, I've heard (and heard about) a number of sexist comments from male golfers directed at women. The attitudes behind those kinds of comments are the same as those that lead to policies that create pay inequity and foster domestic violence. By generally treating women as second-class citizens in the world of golf, clubs deny women the opportunity to participate equally in the business world and be treated fairly in the larger world.

Martha Burk's battle at Augusta is not just about "some privileged lady of leisure" seeking an expensive golf membership, as Greg Cote wrote in a Miami Herald column. It's about discrimination, pure and simple.

Some of Martha Burk's critics have labeled her a meddlesome troublemaker. I proudly call her a hero.

Andrea Lewis is a San Francisco-based writer and co-host of "The Morning Show" on KPFA Radio in Berkeley, California.