WOW! Event to Honor Women Graces Former All-Male Bastion

As the Older Women’s League (OWL) was finishing up its 21st Annual at the Missouri Athletic Club in downtown St. Louis Thursday, I got to thinking about what a special experience this was.

Back in the late 1980s, I was public relations director of the club and editor of its glossy magazine, the Cherry Diamond.

Times were different, that’s for sure. Around 1988, the MAC was locked in a pitched battle to bar women members from the door. It was an ugly confrontation to say the least. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch was launching counter attacks almost daily.

Further, I started thinking how different men and women are in general. Here I was seated at a table, one of only two men among 10 guests. The room was filled with about 400 people; most were women.

A silent presence

Back in the 1980s, women were often seen but seldom heard at the club. Sure, they were the dates and wives of members. But, for the most part, their opinions and participation were often not appreciated or encouraged.

I remember how difficult it was for women to be accepted as dues paying members at the MAC at all. Many club members threatened to give up their membership if women were admitted to the membership rolls.

Undoubtedly, fairness had little to do with the policies of the MAC in those days. Rather, men ruled the roost. In the same Missouri Room where the WOW gala was held, the sports dinners were dominated by loud and boisterous men, stinking up the place with smelly cigars.

Dignitaries like Jack Buck and Dan Dierdorf used to lead the event in cheers and jeers. Seldom were women at the dinner table, and never on the awards list.

The jokes were great, but usually at the expense of someone else.

Grace and purpose

I can’t help notice the stark contrast between the behavior of men and women overall. While men were tossing down beers at Busch Stadium, cheering on the Redbirds, some 400 women were rallying behind the causes of equality in health care issues, education, religious and spiritual beliefs and keeping the family together as a unit. I was simply inspired by the community spirit.

The words of wisdom from the speakers left an afterglow for the whole night. Thirteen women were being honored for their volunteering in communities they love. The praise of their own families was effusive. And it was all happening in the hallowed halls of the bastion of a long-time male dominance.

Twenty five years years ago, the heavily female-dominated group might not have been welcomed at all?