Over my academic life, I have wrote three papers on Title IX including the big paper last semester for the Intro to Research Methods class that is required for all Sport Management majors. The more I research Title IX, the more confusing the law becomes to me. I definitely agree with Title IX and how it gives women equal rights to men, and I feel a lot of people agree, but there are some doubters if it actually hurts men’s sports. I feel like it does hurt men’s sports at least a little bit but it comes at the cost of giving women equal rights. Take gymnastics as an example for men’s sports that have been cut in a huge quantity since Title IX was passed in 1972. I believe it was 212 men’s sports gymnastics teams have been cut since 1972, leaving only a handful left in the United States. Another sport that has suffered since the passing of Title IX, has been wrestling. Whether or not this has something to do with Title IX or not, they are two sports that have suffered the greatest over the past forty years. Some would say, such as me, they are declining in teams because the sports have become less popular across the country and people would rather watch and play other sports. Regardless, Title IX has worked magnificently for women, as their numbers in sports have sky rocketed since the passing of Title IX. I believe it was somewhere in the range of a 450% increase in women participating in sports.
Jeremy Shay
ReplyDeleteI agree that Title IX can be confusing to many of people. But I think that Title IX is a good thing for females because without the passing of Title IX no one would know where females sports would be today. Female athletes should have the same chances as males with playing sports not only at the college level but also at the professional level as well. In the pass Olympics the female team won more medals than the males did. I think this is not only because of the ability of the females but also because of all the hard work they put into their sports not only to show everyone they belong in the sports world but also because they want to show everyone that passing Title IX was a good thing for everyone.
Aaron,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you that Title IX can be confusing. I work in the compliance office and there’s been a few times that Title IX issues have been brought up. At work I have brought up the fact that men have less sports to participate in than women. At BG, we have women’s track and field, gymnastics, tennis, volleyball, and swimming, but we don’t have the same for men. It’s unfortunate that to play men’s sports in college you have to play one of the more popular sports. I’m not saying that Title IX is the direct cause for dropping these sports, as it may just be that not enough students wanted to participate in them and the school didn’t have money for them. I agree that Title IX did great things for women’s sports, but I’m not sure that it created equality for men’s and women’s sports.
Erin
Aaron,
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree when it comes to fully understanding Title IX. I feel that this law has been good for women, because it gives them the opportunities that they deserve. Many people agree and disagree with this, because they all have their own opinions. There are some that feel that women should never be allowed to participate in sports that are usually socially acceptable for men. I feel that if a girl has the confidence and passion to play football, she deserves a chance. Title IX does help out when these situations arise, but fully understanding this law is tough.
Dan Pesato ^^
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