IBM CEO is a woman; now what?

Back in the 40s when us boys were in our formative years, so to speak, we resided in a "girl-free" atmosphere which was not uncommon during those days.

Our game playing, our bike rides, our hours of comic book reading was devoid of girls. We even had a clubhouse that was not friendly to members of the opposite sex who we considered having "cooties," whatever that was.

Even back then, though, there appeared to be a movement to abandon those discriminatory practices as evidenced by the "Our Gang" movie series which notably put boys, girls, whites and blacks together in a group of equals.

Such a thing had never been done before in cinema and it broke new ground. It obviously was a portent of things to come.

Turning the clocks forward to present day discloses a continuation of that groundbreaking atmosphere.

Women are now in positions of authority at many FORTUNE 500 companies. Presidential campaigns, which used to be the exclusive purview of men, have included women.

Both of our daughters have MBAs.

The world has changed. Well, almost. There are still vestiges of that 40s attitude in several places.

Consider for a moment the policy of the Augusta National Golf Club which sponsors The Masters every year. Since its opening in 1932, the club has not allowed women to join. And the names of its members that number around 300 remains a secret. Maybe they also have a secret handshake.

What made this year's tournament so interesting was that the new CEO of IBM is a woman -- Virginia Rometty. In past years the CEO of IBM which is a major sponsor of The Masters, has been invited to join the club as a member. So far there has not been a movement to do so for Rometty even though she will be hosting a series of events at the club for IBM customers. The past CEOs were men and I suspect that when Rometty was named CEO, a shudder of disbelief and anxiousness came over the members.

At a press conference, the chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, Billy Payne, deflected all questions regarding Rometty's admission with silly, inane responses no doubt written for him by someone on the board because he does not appear to be that clever.

It will be interesting to see what transpires over the next couple of months regarding membership for women.

Of course, the dinosaurs at the golf club will probably continue to voice their fossilized opinions while the rest of the world looks at their inactions as infantile and comedic.

Groucho Marx once remarked that he "would never join a club that would have him as a member."

Let's hope there are some intelligent, forward-thinking members in the club who conclude that they do not want to be a member of a club that excludes women or be associated with members who are still living in the 40s. But that would be a stretch. Evidently some still feel that girls have cooties.

Editor's Note: Bill Kalmar of Lake Orion, Mich., retired from Comerica Bank in 1993 and was then director of the Michigan Quality Council from 1993-2003 in the Gov. John Engler administration. The Fort Scott native now writes on a freelance basis.