You can debate Title IX all you want but you'd be hard-pressed to argue against the looks on little girls' faces when they talk about what the US Women's Soccer team means to them.
And that would not have happened without Title IX.
Today, most of us don't know or remember what life was like before Title IX, when girls just had "gym" and boys had actual sports. When girls could only sign up for dance or gymnastics classes that were outside of the school system, while boys participated in the sports that schools and towns cared about.
Granted, Title IX may have caused some challenges for boys' teams. There was only so much money to go around and now girls' teams had to get a piece of that pie. The argument was often made, by those against Title IX, that fewer girls cared about sports so there shouldn't be an equal distribution of funds. Well, that seems to be a chicken-and-egg argument that has now been pretty well disproved.
Speaking of "chicken-and-egg," I am very curious as to how, if at all, Title IX impacted women's sports, globally. After all, the US Women's Team is playing against women's teams from all over the world. Hmm, need to do more research.
But I did find this fascinating History of Women in Sports Timeline -- definitely worth perusing.
One key entry is:
1972 -- Congress passes Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any education program or activities receiving Federal financial assistance." When President Nixon signs the act on July 23 about 31,000 women are involved in college sports; spending on athletic scholarships for women is less than $100,000; and the average number of women's teams at a college is 2.1.
And this related bit of information:
2010 -- New research from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business takes a step towards empirically proving the aforementioned theory. In her paper titled, "Beyond the Classroom: Using Title IX to Measure the Return to High School Sports," Wharton business and public policy professor Betsey Stevenson offers evidence that playing sports leads to more education and better employment opportunities.
Also, this great article by Tara Parker-Pope in the New York Times addresses this topic so well.
Today, girls can play sports and it is normal! It is accepted by other girls, by boys, by parents, by men. And what a wonderful way for girls to connect with their dads. It is no longer "odd" or "tomboy" behavior. It is just ordinary. And that is huge.
It is great for girls to see the nation riveted by women's soccer, to see how Serena and Venus Williams have dominated tennis, and to watch UConn's women's basketball team being cheered on by men.
This is not just about Title IX and the subsequent participation and success of women in sports. It is about what this means to women, in life. How the message that they get by participating in sanctioned, official sports during high school and college -- that they can take the field, be the players, be the stars, be the people that others are cheering for rather than only being able to do the cheering -- how that message carries on throughout their lives.
Girls now learn at a young age that they do not have to be "supporters", they can be "doers." And that message gets through even to girls who do not choose to participate in sports. Just seeing people like them (meaning, people of their gender) playing sports -- and being famous for that -- gives them a confidence and a sense of their opportunities in life that they would not have if only boys/men played "official" sports.
Yes, there is so much more to be done. Miles to go before we sleep. But today, let's celebrate the women who fought for Title IX, the men who passed the legislation, the girls who thought "Hey, that looks like fun!", the parents who drove them to practice and cheered at their games, and the US Women's Soccer team, regardless of the outcome of Sunday's match.
Elisabeth Joy LaMotte, LICSW: The Team of Women Who Brought Hope to Japan
Women's World Cup: US vs. Japan: Victory on penalty kicks earns Japan title
Women's World Cup: Happy kid lifts his shirt at US scores against Japan
The question is? would programs for females be offered at these schools if Title 9 was gone or never passed? More then likely yes ,with one exception. If it can generate revenue to pay for itself then or only draw on the vast sums of money that is brought into the schools by mens sports.
This is where I see the line drawn into the sand. It's all about the ability the sport has to generate revenue. Yes, Some college might have some sports that only people that come to see it is family members and people that are dating the athlete on the field. Those are the sports that are paid for by the overflow of revenue from the major sports that college has. To remind everyone. Sports is a business! 71 scholarships for d 1 football team at 2.1 million a year investment to make 118 million dollar profit!
We need government funded training programs if we want our kids to shine. Everyone else has them, but ole Uncle Sap expects wealthy corporations to aid in building and maintaining our sports programs, and as usual, that crowd isn't much interested in doing anything substantial for anyone but their own.
Beverly Wettenstein
"Celebrate Women Every Day!"
Founder: "Women in History and Making History Today - 365-Days--A-Year Database."
Author: "A WOMAN'S BOOK OF DAYS"
National Speaker: "A Woman's Place in the 21st Century"
The commission recommended that schools use a model survey offered by the Department of Education in 2005, calling it "the best possible method" for measuring women's interest and abilities. The survey is one of three ways schools can meet the participation requirements of Title IX, the law that bans sex discrimination at schools receiving federal funds. "
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2010-04-01-title-ix_N.htm
Instead of dividing funds by the numbers of students enrolled would it not make more sense to do so by those who are actually interested in playing sports? Women's groups attacked the survey because they only care about women getting more of everything whether or not they want it. In the end the Obama administration rescinded the survey due to this pressure.
"More than 90 percent of the Texas A&M Athletics Department's revenue comes from football. Each home football game at Kyle Field brings in between $3 and $4 million. This revenue provides the money needed to run other sports that lose money for the Athletic Department such as basketball, tennis, volleyball and baseball among others."
http://www.thebatt.com/2.8484/title-ix-keeps-men-s-programs-off-the-field-1.1209777
Popular men's sports generate revenue. It's appropriate to allocate scholarships to make those teams better.
Does Japan have Title IX?
Proud Parent!!
Prove it. Prove that a MAJORITY of men's sports programs have been "destroyed." And please qualify "destroyed."
"it's nothing but discriminaÂtion against men"
Yes that's ALL it is- a plot against men. Because Nixon and Congress hated men. Yep.
"...a politicallÂy correct cleansing of the fact that more men on campus are interested in sports than women are...:
Sorry to break it to you but women are actually interested in sports. The participation levels have soared since Title IX and continue to increase. And you're correct Title IX is not only about sports. What's your point?
The biggest threat to men's sports - especially men's olympic sports - is men's football. The voracious need to fund 85 men on full scholarship, plus walk ons, means there is very little money left over to fund men's wrestling, gymnastics, etc.
I fail to see why a men's sport needs to give a 4th string back up running back, who will play 3 downs per season, a full ride scholarship. If universities offered the starting line up full rides, that would free up about 60 scholarships to offer other men's sports participants.
"As Title IX passes through its 33rd year of existence it is important to examine the other side of the equal opportunity argument that the legislation is supposed to promote. During this time frame in which strides have been made in womenâs athletics, menâs athletic programs have generally suffered. More than 400 menâs athletic teams have been eliminated as a result of Universities needing to become NCAA compliant. The sports worst hit have been low revenue Olympic sports such as wrestling, swimming and track and field. This is a disturbing trend that was never intended when Title IX was introduced."
http://www.athleticscholarships.net/title-ix-college-athletics-9.htm