Title Ix: Progression of Woman

Shirley Chui
November 22, 2012
Title IX: The Progression of Woman

Point I: Prior to Title IX (before 1870), women’s opportunity for physical activity was restricted due to the fact that sports were a “men’s” thing. Activities for women included noncompetitive and rule-less where they emphasized informal activities rather than competition. Women in sports, before Title IX was signed, made huge strides against the stereotype that women cannot compete. In 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim across the English Channel and who set the world record. In 1945, Babe Didrikson Zaharias became the first woman to compete in the PGA golf tour where she made the 36-hole cut to compete against men. On June 23, 1972 Title IX was signed and put into effect. Title IX stated that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Even after the implementation of Title IX, women in sports still make strides for equality among sports with men. Not only are they in competition with each other, they are in competition with society and the equality amongst themselves and men.
Point II: A personal experience I had in high school were regarding field requirements the same as the baseball field. My high school originally had a baseball field. For softball, however, Varsity and Junior Varsity girls had to take the bus everyday to a nearby park to practice and this is where our home games were held as well. The level of play was the same as baseball; we were very much talented and made it far into playoffs. In my school, football and all the boy’s sports came first. The football team got the most funding out of all the sports and so did the boys sports over the girls. I decided to do my research to see if it was really fair that all the male athletics got the upper hand on women’s athletics. I contacted the school district and complained about the conditions the girls had to go through in order to practice, or even to receive better funding. I got many parents and many other girl’s teams to complain. Sure enough, my sophomore year of high school, we got better funding for girl’s sports, and the construction of a softball field began on our campus.
Point III: 1. “As a result of their [women] perseverance, millions of American girls can now play sports. Young women make up half of the nation 's medical and law students, and star on the best basketball, soccer, and softball teams in the world. This small law made a huge difference.” (Blumenthal). Pg. 54

2. “Title IX represents a watershed in the history of girls ' and women 's education. In 1971, the year before Title IX was passed, fewer than 295,000 high school girls and 30,000 college women participated in their schools ' athletic programs. By 2001, those numbers had increased to 2.8 million and 150,000, respectively.” (Ware). Pg. 23

3. “Title IX, the law, prohibits any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance from discriminating on the basis of sex.” (Carpenter). Pg. 78

4. “Title IX covers state and local agencies that receive ED funds.” (U.S. Department of Education/Office of Civil Rights.) .

5. “When Congress passed Title IX of the Civil Rights Act in 1972, they seemed to be doing something laudable and also long overdue-prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in America 's schools. But thirty years later, a law designed to guarantee equal opportunity has become the most explicit, government-enforced quota regime in America, putting boys and men on the losing side of a battle for athletic and educational opportunity.” (Gayora). Pg. 117

6. “On June 27, 2002, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige established the Secretary’s Commission of Opportunities in Athletics he first federal advisory panel to study Title IX.” (Simon). Pg. 98

7. “In 1976, four years after Title IX became law, Ginny Gilder and her rowing teammates at Yale University were getting sick. There were no shower facilities available right after practice, and they 'd have to get on a bus, cold and wet.” (Goldman). .

8. “In 1967 President Lyndon Johnson sent a series of executive orders in order to make some clarifications. Before these clarifications were made, the National Organization for Women persuaded President Johnson to include women in his executive orders. Most notable is Executive Order 11375, which required all entities receiving federal contracts to end discrimination on the basis of sex in hiring and employment.” (Hogshead-Makar). Pg. 49

9. “Title IX applies, with a few specific exceptions, to all aspects of federally funded education programs or activities. In addition to traditional educational institutions such as colleges, universities, and elementary and secondary schools, Title IX also applies to any education or training program operated by a recipient of federal financial assistance.” (Jang). .

10. “An early draft was prepared by Congresswoman Patsy Mink, with the assistance of Congresswoman Green. In the hearing there was very little mention of athletics. Their focus was more specifically on the hiring and employment practices of federally financed institutions.” (Hanson). Pg. 69

Point IV: Title IX is a frozen waterfall, though hard to break through, it has melted the many difficult layers through the years. It has made major break throughs in women’s rights. It allowed women to get paid more than what they were getting paid before. Women were able to have careers and compete in the men’s field of work. It also developed a sense of empowerment because women were offered equal scholarship opportunities. This allowed women to educate themselves outside of the kitchen.
Point V: An example of Title IX would be in the sports arena. For NBA stars, they get paid ridiculous amounts of money to play basketball whereas the WNBA, they make only what a teacher would make in a year. It is clear that the NBA stars are becoming the highest paid employees in the world. They make on average $20 million a year. The maximum a woman who plays in the WNBA could only make a maximum of $87,000. In baseball, there’s a major league, a minor league, and a “D” league. Softball, which is similar to baseball, the highest you can play would be the USA team; which is not on national television. Sex discrimination in sports is visible, but yet society does nothing to create a better system for gender equality. Although women may not be as physically strong as men, it is important to realize that women should get paid the same mount as men. The differences are seen even in professional sports. Title IX should be enforced not only in education but in other areas of gender discrimination as well.

Point VI: The viewpoints on Title IX are very different. Before Title IX, many universities had separate entrances for male and female students. Scholarships were non-existent for women to go to college because they were seen as inferior to men. After the passing of Title IX, there was an increase in women in the work force and education system. Many views were different as male politicians saw much of the negative sides of the passing of Title IX. These included the cutting of male sports and the addition of female sports. They cut male programs to generate money for female scholarships ‘wasting’ money because female sports do not generate as much money as their counterparts.

Point VII: What caused Title IX to come in effect was the extreme gender inequality between men and women in the work environment and education system. In the work environment, women were not getting paid as much as men. A woman earns only 80 cents for every dollar a man earns. In the education system, many women were required to have better test scores and grades than men to gain admission to a college. Medical and law schools limited the number of women that attended the school to 15. After Title IX was passed, society sees a growth in the women’s workforce, higher numbers of women working and providing. In the education system, women were offered academic and athletic scholarships to help better their education. Since its passing, 55% of women were offered high honors degrees in college and in 2009 36% of women had a bachelors degree or higher.

Point VIII: I discovered in my interview that many people still see gender inequality today. It occurs in athletics, economically, socially, and academically. I interviewed Carla Marevic, and I asked: “Do believe that genders today are equitable?”

“Take softball for example, there’s no major league for that. The highest level you can play is college and after that you’re done. Women can’t make a career out for themselves after that. Unless you’re an Olympic prospect; which you can’t be anymore since they don’t have softball in the Olympics anymore.”

This to me says that today’s generation also experiences gender inequality. Even with Title IX in effect, our society today is a patriarchal one. Women have come a very long way toward equality and we can’t backtrack now. Things can only move forward.
Point IX: Title IX doesn’t benefit women at all because they are subordinate to men. It doesn’t benefit anybody because women are supposed to stay at home, and take care of the children; not have careers. They shouldn’t be competitive with men because they are supposed to be in the kitchen. Women shouldn’t get the opportunities men should because men are the “hunters” and always will be. Women will never make as much money as men in any professional sport, so cutting men’s programs to fund women’s is a waste of time and money. Title IX doesn’t benefit our economy because it’s a setback in letting society decide where women should be.

Point X: My findings from my interview are that gender discrimination is still present today. Though it may not be in the classroom, it is seen in sports.

“Women don’t generate the amount of money that men make in sports. Take softball for example. There is no major league for softball as there is for baseball. The highest level that you can play is college and there is nothing after that.”

Here, Carla Marevic explains how there is no career in softball after the collegiate level. This I find true because being a division 1 student-athlete, I see no career after the collegiate level. There are the Olympics and the USA national team, but there is only a select amount of women that can actually play. If compared to baseball, there is an MLB, the minor leagues, and the D-Leagues even after college. In society, women don’t generate enough money to host the big times leagues like the males do.

Point XI:
What Would High School Students Say?
“What do you think about Title IX?”
“I think that Title IX is a great outlet to having women become influential figures in today’s patriarchal world,” says high school senior Emily Dang.
“What makes you say that?”
“I say that because us women have had a history of oppression. Title IX clearly defies that and lets women have a chance to better themselves.”
“Do you think that Title IX should change?”
“I definitely think that Title IX should, but for the better. Today, there are still many things that discriminate against women and for that, I feel that there should be a stricter reinforcement.”
“You said that there are many things that are still discriminatory towards women; can you give some examples of what you mean?”
“For example. The WBNA and the NBA. If you compare the salaries of males that play in the NBA and women that play for the WNBA, males get paid a ridiculous amount of money that definitely surpass those of the women. Another example would be male athletics in high school being funded better by the school. If you ask me, it’s happening right now in my high school.”
“Do you think that Title IX has helped women academically?”
“I definitely think that it has benefitted women academically. If you look in the past, women weren’t allowed scholarships to go to college. You look at today, and women are getting athletic and academic scholarships.”
“Has Title IX benefitted you as a high school senior?”
“Yes it has. I have been offered scholarship monies from different organizations and schools and I feel that it is encouraging me and giving me an opportunity to better myself and getting an education.”

Point XII:
“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance...” This statement is from a portion of the Title IX amendment. I feel as though this is not implemented enough to stride towards gender equality. No person should be lesser of somebody else because of a person’s gender. There should be stricter enforcements on this law, for there are still inequalities amongst men and women. Though there are physical differences between these two genders, they should not be discriminated upon just because of what they are. This means, getting paid more or even getting recognition for something. If women still can’t get the same opportunities as men, then this world could be stuck in the same patriarchal world were men possess all the power.

Works Cited
Blumenthal, Karen. Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX : The Law That Changed the Future of Girls in America. New York Atheneum for Young Readers, 2005. Print.

Carpenter, Linda Jean, and R. Vivian. Acosta. Title IX. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2005. Print.

Gavora, Jessica. Tilting the Playing Field: Schools, Sports, Sex, and Title IX. San Francisco: Encounter, 2002. Print.

Goldman, Tom. "40 Years On, Title IX Still Shapes Female Athletes." NPR. NPR, 22 June 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. .

Hanson, Katherine, Vivian Guilfoy, and Sarita Pillai. More Than Title IX: How Equity in Education Has Shaped the Nation. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009. Print.

Hogshead-Makar, Nancy, and Andrew S. Zimbalist. Equal Play: Title IX and Social Change. Philadelphia, PA: Temple UP, 2007. Print

Jang, Deeana. "Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972." Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The United States Department of Justice, 4 June 2006. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. .

Simon, Rita J. Sporting Equality: Title IX Thirty Years Later. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction, 2005. Print.

"Title IX and Sex Discrimination." Title IX and Sex Discrimination. U.S. Department of Education/ Office of Civil Rights, 18 June 2012. Web. 8 Nov. 2012. .

Ware, Susan. Title IX: A Brief History With Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2007. Print.

Cited: Blumenthal, Karen. Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX : The Law That Changed the Future of Girls in America. New York Atheneum for Young Readers, 2005. Print. Carpenter, Linda Jean, and R. Vivian. Acosta. Title IX. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2005. Print. Gavora, Jessica. Tilting the Playing Field: Schools, Sports, Sex, and Title IX. San Francisco: Encounter, 2002. Print. Goldman, Tom. "40 Years On, Title IX Still Shapes Female Athletes." NPR. NPR, 22 June 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. . Hanson, Katherine, Vivian Guilfoy, and Sarita Pillai. More Than Title IX: How Equity in Education Has Shaped the Nation. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009. Print. Hogshead-Makar, Nancy, and Andrew S. Zimbalist. Equal Play: Title IX and Social Change. Philadelphia, PA: Temple UP, 2007. Print Jang, Deeana. "Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972." Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The United States Department of Justice, 4 June 2006. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. . Simon, Rita J. Sporting Equality: Title IX Thirty Years Later. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction, 2005. Print. "Title IX and Sex Discrimination." Title IX and Sex Discrimination. U.S. Department of Education/ Office of Civil Rights, 18 June 2012. Web. 8 Nov. 2012. . Ware, Susan. Title IX: A Brief History With Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2007. Print.