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Title IX: Gender Equality In The United States

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Title IX Research Paper Equality is something that many Americans have been striving for since the country was founded, however, coming by it has not always been easy. The passing of many different laws, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, has allowed us to come closer to finding a common ground for equal opportunities in all areas including employment and education, but we were still not there. This, however, sparked a revolution most notably in the idea of gender equality and the women’s rights campaign. After the passing of Title IX in 1972, the landscape of gender equality in the United States changed drastically, including its impact on women in sport. Although not directly meant to impact sports, Title IX has made a huge difference …show more content…

Title IX was easily recognized in the area of education and the workforce, yet many people failed to see that sports played a pivotal role in the law’s passing as well. Initially, there was a concern of how this would effect men’s sports going forward, as they dominated the sports world. Up until the 1970’s there were “nearly 3.7 million boys playing varsity sports compared to 295,000 girls” while out of every dollar being earned only one cent of it went to women’s sports (Woods, 226). This in turn raised a lot of questions in the sports world about what gender equality means. However, in 1975 the Office for Civil Rights sent of to clarify common discrepancies with the Title IX law. First, the proportionality test stated that if a school is 50% female, at least 45% of athletes must be female. That does not necessarily mean that men’s teams need to be cut, which is a common misconception. The second test is the history of progress in which a school must be making evident strides towards expanding women’s programs in the school. Thirdly, the accommodation of interest test, which states that a school shows it is accommodating for the underrepresented female sex, because lack of …show more content…

More than 30 years later developments are continuing to be made. Women have begun to dominate many different sports including aerobic exercises, kickboxing, iceskating, swimming, and volleyball. This gains have not only been seen at the recreational level, but also at the high school, collegiate level and even Olympic level. This rise has created great interest in female sports and has increased popularity. Sports like women’s tennis and basketball have been driving forces of the success, thanks to athletes like Venus and Serena Williams and the UCONN and University of Tennessee woman’s basketball programs (Woods, 228-229). With all that being said, “there's been real growth in the number of women who participate in sports, receive scholarships, and benefit from increased budgets. There are more opportunities to compete at elite levels through competitions like the Olympics, World Championships and professional leagues. Even more importantly, we know that playing sports makes women healthier. They're less likely to smoke, drink, use drugs and experience unwanted pregnancies. Studies also link sports participation to reduced incidences of breast cancer and osteoporosis later in life. These health benefits for women and society alone should be reason to keep Title IX strong.” Not only do the benefits of sport give women and equal right to participate, but they

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