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NEWS & LETTERS,
January-February 2003
Hands off Title IX!
The latest civil rights law to face attack by the Bush
administration is Title IX, passed by Congress in 1972. Most people think it
relates only to sports. Nothing could be further from the truth. It reads:
"No person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from
participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination
under any educational program or activity receiving federal aid." By 1994 women received 38% of medical degrees, compared
with 9% in 1972; earned 43% of law degrees, up from 7% in 1972; and 44% of all
doctoral degrees to U.S. citizens went to women, up from 25% in 1977. EQUALITY FOR WOMEN The most controversial area of Title IX has been
ensuring that women have equality in sports--get athletic scholarships,
equipment, coaching and facilities. Since Title IX's passage, the number of
female athletes has increased from 31,852 to 150,916. Revealing what girls can
do when given the chance, high school women athletes have risen from 300,000 to
2.78 million today. Now, in an administration that opposes affirmative
action, President Bush in June 2002 created a 15-member Commission on
Opportunities in Athletics to "study" Title IX. The Commission plans
to present its recommendations in February. Women's fears of this commission are well-founded. Many
witnesses and most of the commission discussion have focused on the law's effect
on male athletes, not on the significant problems still remaining for women.
Christine Grant, former women's athletic director at the University of Iowa,
expressed the frustration of many women activists: "Thirty years (after
Title IX), despite the fact that men commandeer the majority of participation
slots and financial resources, the commission seems to be focusing on the
complaints of male coaches and male student athletes and also on the subtle
questioning on how to help institutions continue their discriminatory practices
in sport." Some of the most vocal opponents of Title IX are in less
well-funded sports like wrestling. J. Robinson, men's wrestling coach at the
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, says to all who will listen that
"feminist radicals" are calling for the number of male and female
athletes to be closely proportional to the number of men and women in the
student body--as if this is a bad thing! He whines that women's sports is an
artificially created market that would collapse without financial support. At
the same time, he blames Title IX for taking money from his sport to give to
women's sports, thereby threatening its existence. All these arguments have been
disproved numerous times. BACK TO THE DARK AGES The contention that women must prove interest in a sport
before it will exist for them is dangerous and absurd. Donna Lopiano, Hall of
Fame softball player, said, "That would take us back to the dark ages. It's
like saying we should survey how interested women are in math--then limit their
opportunities according to the survey." Men have never had to prove such an
interest, sports opportunities have always been offered to them. As Olympic medal winner Donna DeVerona asserted:
"There has always been a move to undermine Title IX. We've always heard
'women aren't interested' and those voices are growing in the current
climate." If Bush is allowed to impose a burden of interest for
women in sports, it will set a dangerous precedent. Will women have to prove we
want equal pay; will we have to prove interest in computer science or be accused
of taking away scarce resources from men; will Blacks have to prove they want
equal housing, and education? We demand that the Commission disregard such sexist
voices and consider the view of Myles Brand, the newly-inaugurated president of
the National Collegiate Athletic Association: "We should move forward in
fully implementing Title IX in a timely and aggressive manner, despite the
discomfort of some individuals and institutions." There is no turning back! --Mary Jo Grey |
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