Discrimination, and life's true pleasures

Here’s an interesting perspective in a column today by Michael Kinsley: (You can read the whole thing at )

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/17/AR2009061702801.html?wpisrc=newsletter

“By now you probably know the story. President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee is a member of an all-women's club called the Belizean Grove. Its main activity is an annual retreat, usually in Belize, where a self-described "constellation of influential women" gathers to practice the folk rituals of 21st-century big shots and wannabes of both genders, such as bonding and mentoring. This club is a response to the Bohemian Grove, a similar annual gathering in Northern California. The Bohemian Grove has struggled against the tide of history for years in its attempt to remain all male, and so far it has succeeded with only a few concessions. One famous argument was that the presence of women would prevent members from urinating on trees -- another treasured folk ritual in those circles, apparently. . . .

And later: “The true answer is that we tolerate discrimination in favor of traditionally oppressed groups more than we tolerate discrimination against them. It's not symmetrical. And, if you believe in affirmative action -- as Sotomayor proudly does, as I do -- it can't be. An all-women's club is okay even though an all-men's club is not. A corporation's minority recruitment program or a university's minority scholarships are considered admirable, while similar programs reserved for white people would be regarded as horrific.”

I agree with Kinsley’s reasoning as much as I’m impressed by his willingness to tell the truth: We (the enlightened we) tolerate a certain level of discrimination in favor of minorities to begin to reduce the effects of centuries of discrimination against them. Kinsley argues that the Belizean Grove is still discriminating, this time against poor women, but he misses the obvious point about the coattail effect. We need to allow powerful women to meet, mentor, and network so that more less-privileged women will have a chance to move into these circles of power.

But for me, I still recognize the legitimacy of all-male groups where men can feel comfortable urinating on trees. My monthly poker group from time to time discusses inviting a woman to join and always decides against it. We need to feel comfortable using vile language and making grossly sexual jokes. We need to be able to urinate on trees.

Whatever the female equivelents may be to this jackass behavior, I say “more power to them.”