What Is Title IX?

Before Title IX was signed by President Nixon on June 23 and went into effect on July 1 of 1972, both women and young girls were excluded from many activities that men and young boys were allowed to do. Since the passing of Title IX, women have excelled in all sports tremendously. This essay will argue that because of Title IX, women can now participate in various activities and sports. Title IX of Educational Amendments prohibits sex discrimination in any educational program or activity receiving any type of financial aid, and because of this enactment made by Congress in 1972, women have left their mark on sports history.

Title IX protects girls from being harassed by teachers or other students based on gender. Under Title IX, teachers must not discriminate against pregnant or parenting students by bullying them or giving them special rules that other students don’t have to follow. Less than fifty percent of states have anti-discrimination laws and guidelines that protect pregnant or parenting students (Egan and Kaufmann). In fact, “seventy-eight percent of states do not require schools to collect information about student pregnancy” (Egan and Kaufmann). Title IX protects the rights of pregnant students by allowing them the proper amount of pregnancy leave and equal educational opportunities. Discriminating against pregnant students is a direct violation of their rights as

Title IX is a comprehensive federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity (2015). Title IX covers 10 key areas including: education, athletics, careers, employment, learning environments, technology, sexual harassment, testing, Math and Science, and education for pregnant and parenting students (2016). The law was passed in 1972 (2016). One of the most striking figures of the Title IX movement was Billie Jean King. King was a renowned tennis player and huge advocate for gender equality (2013). Despite having to endure both private and public battles, she never gave up on fighting for what she believed in (2013). Although King is often seen as someone who fought for women’s right she continually points out that she was fighting for “equal opportunity for both boys and girls” (2013). Title IX mainly focuses on helping women and young girls gain gender equality in common places but it can affect men

Gender has always been a starting point for much of the judgement in our society whether we realize it or not, and it’s exactly the causes of one of the many controversies that there is today. Title IX, the law passed to help overcome prejudice and grant girls the same opportunities as boys, is getting not only the credit it deserves but much backlash to counter it. The main purpose of this law was originally to give girls the opportunity to play the same sports as boys were able to, and thanks to the law girls are now given these opportunities to play sports in addition to also give many transgender students more rights within the schools than ever before. Even with all these steps forward in society, there are still those who believe

The idea of equity in society particularly in athletics has been a major topic in athletics for many years. However, in spite of the long and storied history of the fight for equity in athletics we still see a lot of misunderstanding especially involving one particular law. This law is Title IX which has a number of awful misconceptions associated with it even from female athletes themselves. One misconception that is very popular especially among the critics of Title IX is the idea that “Title IX exists to force to schools to drop men’s sport’s”(Kane, pg. 3). This is something that was reinforced by an report authored by Dr. Mary Jo Kane who is a Professor at the University of Minnesota regarding the 40th anniversary of Title IX. Dr. Kane indicated that she opens her sport sociology class discussions on Title IX by asking her class what they know about this subject. Dr. Kane indicated in her report that Title IX “remains a mystery to the vast majority of her students, both male and female” (Kane, pg. 3). Dr. Kane goes on to point out the misconception mentioned above is commonly said by her students including her female D1 scholarship athletes who are the ones that have benefitted most from this law. Overall Title IX is a great law even if it is a law that takes a lot of bad press although this is largely due to the actions or in some cases lack thereof from the leaders who reside in college athletics.

But women's rights groups fought back. Four years later, over Reagan's veto, Congress passed the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988. This act nullified the effects of the Grove City v. Bell ruling by outlawing sex discrimination throughout an entire educational institution if any part of the institution received federal funding. In addition to the Act, the OCR publicly renewed its commitment to ending gender discrimination, calling Title IX a "top priority," and publishing a "Title IX Athletic Investigator's Manual" to strengthen enforcement procedures.

“ No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance (Patricia, 1977, p. 15).”

In 1972 Congress passed the Educational Amendments. One section of this law, Title IX prohibits discrimination against girls and women in federally funded education, including in athletic programs. Since its arrival, in regards to athletics, there have been arguments for and against the many aspects pertaining to this law. Title IX has had a large impact on high school and college athletics in the attempt to give females an equal opportunity, but the means by which they are achieving this goal is an ongoing debate.

     Title IX was passed by the U.S. Congress on June 23, 1972, and signed by

Over two decades have passed since the enactment of Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded education, including athletics. As a result of Title IX, women and girls have benefited from more athletic participation opportunities and more equitable facilities. Because of Title IX, more women have received athletic scholarships and thus opportunities for higher education that some may not have been able to afford otherwise. In addition, because of Title IX the salaries of coaches for women's teams have increased. Despite the obstacles women face in athletics, many women have led and are leading the way to gender equity.

Throughout the 20th century, one of the most controversial topics is the equality of men and women. From the workplace to the athletic fields, many activists have made it their life’s work in order to see women able to have the same opportunities as their male counterparts. In some cases, there has been legal action made in order to facilitate these reforms and ensure that they will be enforced. In most cases, these laws have accomplished exactly what they have set out to do. The nineteenth amendment allowed for the suffrage of women, and Executive Order 11246 prevents any employer from discriminating anybody in the hiring process and in employment, to include equal opportunity as far as advancement and salary are concerned. Both of these have

TITLE VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 law was what many civil rights activists had been lobbying for over many years. Title VI was made to end segregation and discrimination on the basis of color, gender, and nationality for employment. However, education was not included in TITLE VI, which caused Dr. Bernice R. Sandler, a senior scholar at the Women’s Research and Education Institute in Washington, DC, to still have to fight for her job at the University of Maryland. Dr.

The lack of action and the incompetence of HEW was the primary obstacle in the way of thorough enforcement of Title IX . Inspired by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Title IX took years for women to see the law enacted due to the disgraceful lack of enforcement by HEW. Experts show that the Education and Welfare did “three tenths of a complaint per person” failing to protect women to the best of its abilities for more than five years (NOW 71). The HEW did not make a priority to evaluate the claims of race or gender discrimination and after the passing of 1972 women who were excited about the passing of the law were met with one obstacle, the grace period. Feminist Susan Ware notes that The Department of Health, Education and Welfare appointed a “grace period of four to three years” for secondary institutions, meaning that some women did not see the law take hold until graduation (NOW 74). The grace period allowed schools to do as they please under the guise of evaluating results of complaints of discrimination which gave the law a sluggish start. During this period women flooded HEW with thousands of complaints by women facing gender discrimination on college campuses across the nation.

This past June marked the 40th anniversary of Title IX, a United States law stating that no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Although the wide spectrum in which Title IX covers includes many educational issues, its application to NCAA athletics has especially been confounded, because, unlike most educational institutions, athletic programs are gender-segregated by sport. In terms of intercollegiate athletics, Title IX essentially states that that all academic institutes of higher education are

No administrative act has had a more powerful impact on the world of sports other than Title IX. Before Title IX was passed, only 31,000 women participated in sports, but in 1997, 120,000 women were active in sports around the United States. Title IX is now identical with women trying to find equity in athletics, but it originally had nothing to do with sports. It was a part of a larger legislative act passed to avoid any type of discrimination in the school