Pumpkin Ridge
I spent some time recently at the U.S. Women's Open (golf) at Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon. I've always thought that, because of their superior swings and amazing short games, I can learn more from watching the good woman players and I've watched them a lot on television. This was a rare opportunity to see the best woman players in real life. The course was beautiful and beautifully maintained, the Oregon scenery and weather was wonderful and my hotel was a perfect example of its type. All in all, I enjoyed the few days immensely.
I observed many different personalities in many different settings. Volunteers who worked tirelessly without pay to make sure the players could do their best and the spectators could enjoy the event. Teenagers playing in their first big event who sometimes acted like polished professionals and sometimes like teenagers. Parents who sometimes actively intervened in the proceedings and sometimes tried to pretend they weren't there. Caddies who, in a real sense, are the only friends of the players during the tournament doing their jobs with enthusiasm and skill. Spectators who ranged from the sophisticated to the naive.
The only discordant note came when I thought about the differences in reward to the woman players compared to men of similar skill. Once again I'm troubled by our society's refusal to recognize female skill appropriately. If I'm right about woman golfers' skills, why aren't they better rewarded? Is it because physical strength, where most men players would prevail, is the most important thing to spectators and sponsors? Is it because we don't recognize the superior skills when we see them? Or is it that our culture conditions us to denigrate the contribution of women, to look down on them, to refuse to accept their relative skills?
I fear it's the latter. In many ways, men are taught that they are superior to women, that they have nothing to learn from women, that they should never look up to women. Carried to extremes, men are taught that they should treat women like the caveman, that women exist to serve men. Our society pays lip service to the notion that women should be treated as equals, in the workplace, at least. So why can't this be the normal way to treat women?
I've concluded that a lot of the reason is women's attitudes toward other women. Women seem to be jealous when other women succeed, more than men in comparable situations. Women themselves seem to expect men to prevail, to earn higher wages, to be the heroes. At least, the first step to achieving equal treatment is for women to expect it. (Note that expecting is different from demanding, which will have to be the subject of another column.)
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