Member-only story
Mrs. I’m-Not-Your-Antecedent
Why are women still not persons in their own right?
Several years ago a friend invited us to dinner at his country club. We’re not really country club types, but he’s a nice guy, so we accepted. As I stopped by the Ladies' room after the meal, I noticed a wall full of photos of all of the winners of the women’s golf tournaments. Each one was labeled like this:
- Mrs. John Snow
- Mrs. George Jones
- Mrs. Robert Jameson
“For fuck’s sake,” I thought to myself. “They each won a tournament, and are ostensibly being honored for that, but still don’t even get their own identity. They don’t exist as stand-alone people, but merely as antecedents of their husbands — not in 1950s America, but in the present day. One more reason not to join the country club!”
I guess I shouldn’t have been so shocked to see this since there are still golf clubs in America in 2020 where a woman cannot be a member unless it is as a part of either her father’s or her husband’s membership. Augusta National did not allow women to be members until 8 years ago when two women (Condaleeza Rice and financier, Darla Moore) were invited to join. But I was shocked.
I didn’t change my last name when I got married, although, in truth, I have no problem with women who want to take their…
