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Cult of Power Book Review |
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Book Reviews -
Women's Health and Psychology
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Written by Jennifer Thompson
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 Cult of Power: Sex Discrimination in Corporate America and What Can Be Done About It
by Martha Burk
"In 2002, Dr. Martha Burk, chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations, wrote to the Augusta National Golf Club, host of the prestigious Masters tournament, expressing concern over the club's all-male membership policy and urging it to change."
Cult of Power begins as the story of the Masters tournament and Augusta, but this is not merely a tale about golf. It is a tale of sex discrimination, the facades of equality that cover up businesses with practices that are anything but equal.
In Cult Of Power, Dr. Burk discusses the ramifications of the letter
she wrote to Augusta, how the club responded, and the gender
discussions that ensued. Burk then explores how widely sexism still
rages in corporate America, where business deals are still brokered in
exclusive all-male clubs and glass ceilings still routinely keep women
down in positions of less power.
Chapter topics include companies' records on race versus gender, what
happens to women who charge discrimination, men in the workplace who are 'doing the right thing', and the effect sanctioning
sex discrimination has on society as a whole.
The appendix is a stunning list of the who's who in Augusta: CEOs,
directors and board chairs of companies ranging from insurance to
energy to education. Interesting to note is that Augusta has a policy
to neither confirm nor deny its membership, in keeping with its
identity as a private club.
Anyone interested in equal rights and gender inequalities in the
workplace will find Cult of Power intriguing. It is an amazing,
straightforward, and easy read, and it left me shaking my head that we
are still facing these issues in an otherwise modern and enlightened
society. |
