A Brief Overview Of Title Ix And How It Effects Both Men And Women Essay, Research Paper

A Brief Overview of Title IX and how it effects both Men and Women

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is the ?Federal law which prohibits sex discrimination against the students and employees of any educational agency that receives Federal financial assistance?(Mathews I-1). From June 23, 1972 all the way up until today, there has been a constant struggle as to what gender?equality actually is. Title IX has had a profound effect on both male and female students on college campuses all across the country, because as it gives one group of students opportunities, it, in a sense, is responsible for stealing away those same opportunities from another group of students. There may be an attempt to achieve equality in college athletics based solely on gender, but this attempt may actually be creating inequality especially in regard to the number of athletic opportunities, which are available for student-athletes.

The effects of Title IX on male student athletes are very noticeable in that in order to create an equal number of scholarship opportunities for women, men may have to give up their scholarships. An example of this is the lawsuit of Tom Caruso v. University of Arkansas-Fayetteville on May 27, 1993 (Curtis 6). Mr. Caruso was a member of the Universities? diving team, and their decision to discontinue the diving program in an effort to comply with the Title IX guidelines, was definitely unfair to him. Another example of inequality where male athletes are concerned is the decision that the Southeastern Conference made in 1995 that has required each of its member institutions to provide a minimum of two more women?s sports than men?s sports (Curtis 2). By requiring there to be two more women?s sports than men?s sports, men are losing out on two additional opportunities to participate in intercollegiate athletics. Many colleges and universities are doing away with non-revenue generating men?s sports such as tennis, soccer, and track in an effort to find the additional funds to support the extra women?s sports.

The female student athlete population can definitely feel the effects and benefits of Title IX as well. There are women?s sports programs seemingly popping up every day. Schools that basically ignored female athletics in the past are now offering women?s gymnastics, golf, volleyball, water polo, etc. Every single female sport that is being added is not only providing opportunities for the women as athletes right now, but also the opportunities to be involved in their specific sport when their playing career is over. Whether they look for positions as coaches, athletic trainers, or administrators, opportunities are definitely on the horizon whereas before, they had a very limited future in regards to the number of positions available, and due to the ?lack of parity between male and female salaries in those positions? (Kovacs 16). Women may have more of a variety of sports to choose to participate in now, but the total number of scholarship opportunities is still way below the opportunities given to the men. Also, there are quite a few institutions that are ?dragging their feet? when it comes to compliance with Title IX. The promise of more opportunities is out there, but it seems to take a while for those promises to materialize.

A huge myth that has circulated from the beginning of the Title IX struggles is that football programs will become extinct if girls and women are given the opportunity to play sports. Unfortunately, the gender equity debate has boiled down to the myth that girls are not as interested in playing sports as boys. And even if they are, the male-dominated sports society doesn?t want to add more sports teams for girls, because they are in fear that this will cause them to lose their favorite college football team. The myth that women?s volleyball or track will cause football an untimely death is absurd. If for no other apparent reason, football is the ?cash cow? at most universities and without the money that football programs bring into the athletics department budgets, not many other sports could survive. All that women want is the opportunity to play sports, not the opportunity to take sports away from men.

By giving women the opportunity to participate in college athletics, men are having opportunities taken away from them. If you want girls softball and gymnastics, then we are going to have to take away your boys lacrosse team. The girls shouldn?t really be blamed here, because all they want is an opportunity to participate, just like the men have done for decades. Women deserve the opportunity, as do men, to not only participate in college sports as athletes, but also to participate in college down the road as an administrator or coach. Once again, the question arises: In the attempt to create equality based solely on gender, how can you keep from creating inequality? It?s a shame that one gender may have to suffer so that the other can attempt to have ?equality?.

Curtis, Mary C., Dr. Gender Equity in Sports. 26 June 2000. The University of Iowa

Women?s Intercollegiate Athletics Department Research on Title IX Lawsuits and Voluntary Acts. *http://bailiwick.lib.uiowa.edu/ge/Title_IX.html.*

Kovacs, Frank W. Title IX: Parity of Coaches? Salaries for Male and Female Athletic

Teams. Washington, D.C. National Education Association. 1979.

Mathews, Martha. Implementing Title IX and Attaining Sex Equity: A Workshop

Package for Postsecondary Educators. Washington, D.C. Resource Center on Sex

Roles in Education National Foundation for the Improvement of Education.

September 1978.