Softball and Sexism

Re “Show Biz Softball--Accent the Biz” by Jeff Meyers, April 18:

So, according to the league administrators and unnamed “unofficial historians” women just haven’t “shown an interest” in the entertainment softball league. There are 42 teams with 700 players who socialize, rub elbows with the power elite and unabashedly promote their careers; but women have never shown an interest in it?

I’ll tell you how my interest and that of a roomful of industry women was greeted a few years ago. When questioned, a league member at first told us that women were not admitted to the league. Then he changed course and eyeing my 5-foot 5-inch, estrogen-influenced frame, he smirked at me and suggested that I might try for the team if I “really thought that I could compete with Reggie Jackson.” Now I ask you, is there a lot of room for doubt about what was being communicated to me about my chances for joining the league? What do you suppose the chance would be for a major male entertainment figure being turned away on the same basis? (Hey, Barry Diller, do you really think you can compete with Reggie Jackson?)

The facts simply are these: A major source of industry contacts and unofficial networking is conducted in an arena that effectively bars women, and let’s just say, a whole lot of other riffraff is kept out by the imposition of a $1,650 fee.

These actions are unheard of in any other industry, where one would be hard-pressed to find a segregated league and an entrance fee that exceeds the price of a T-shirt. The fact that the “80-page manager’s handbook” doesn’t officially exclude women is not a matter of great comfort since policies of discrimination are so rarely written down.

DENISE ARANT

Glendale