Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Women destroyed classless democracy in America

Don't believe it? Ask David Brooks, who, in his February 5 column, takes an amazingly circuitous route to get to his point--that well-off, educated people will fill the DNC's coffers when Howard Dean becomes the DNC chairman.

Brooks begins by recalling fondly the days of the Elks Lodges and Rotary Clubs. Men, both working class and affluent, uneducated and educated, rubbed shoulders regularly for fellowship and to perform community service. This example of democratic (well, if you skip the "men only," "white only" part) fellowship was destroyed in the 60's, Brooks says, because of the advent of organizations that were centralized in large urban areas, rather than being based on local chapter participation.

And which organizations does he use as examples? NOW and NARAL. But of course! It was women who came along and took all the fun out of getting out of the house one night a week to shmooze with the bank president and wear a funny hat. That Brooks would choose these two organizations as examples of the destruction of so-called American egalitarian fellowship says more about David Brooks than it does about changing American culture. Just when you think there is nothing else for women to be blamed for, along comes this.

Not only is Brooks' statement misogynistic, it is incorrect. I was a member of an urban NOW chapter for many years, and there was constant fellowship in chapter meetings. The chapter was made up of educated and not so educated women, women who were financially comfortable, and women who were barely getting by. We were a close group (Kim Gandy was one of our members), and we drew support from one another.

Brooks does name the Soroptimists in his list of good-old-days organizations. The first Seroptimist club was formed in 1921 by women who wanted to serve their communities but were not allowed to join the all-male service clubs. Today, Seroptimists have an emphasis on women's rights in their mission, so one wonders whether Brooks still likes them as much as he did back when they were mixing martinis and defrosting their avocado refrigerators.

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