Dr. Beichler
Writing 104
18 November 2014
Title IX’s Effects on Athletics For thousands of years human societies have functioned with various forms of social injustice and oppression. But the largest and most long lasting system of oppression is the patriarchal system. In which, women are not afforded the same economic, social, and educational opportunities as men. For example, in America today full time female workers still only make seventy-eight cents for over dollar their male coworkers make (Hill 1). However the tireless work of women’s rights advocated like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Alice Paul has led to landmark equality legislation and real measurable strides towards greater gender equality. Because …show more content…
The good news is numerous people are lobbying to have the law reformed to better promote actual gender equality in sports. In 2002 at the behest of lobbyists and interest groups the U.S. Department of Education established the Commission on Opportunity in Athletics in order to investigate whether or not Title IX’s wording and compliance rules should be reformed in order to better foster equality among the genders. The Commission hosted several town hall meetings in 2002 to gauge public opinion and hear the grievances of the advocates for the men’s programs that were being eliminated and the advocates for women’s programs who were not in their opinion receiving an equal share of opportunities for expansion. Unfortunately, these meetings did not lead to any tangible reforms of Title IX’s wording or implementation. The lack of action lead people like sociologist Michael A. Messner and attorney Nancy M. Solomon to team up to write a journal article entitled Social Justice and Men’s Interests: The Case of Title IX for the Journal of Sport and Social Issues, in which they examine the 2002 US Department of Education’s public town hall meetings about Title IX. In their article Messner and Solomon argue that the cutbacks of men’s programs and lack of substantial increase in women’s programs budgets and popularity is not because of lack of reform of Title IX but because the advocates for reforms ignore the fact that at many institutions of higher learning their men’s football programs particularly the Division 1 FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) ones receives the lions share of scholarships (eighty five), athletic budget, and publicity while the other