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”.
Bibliography
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.