Judith B Stamper's Face-Off On The Playing Field

Some argue that furthering options for female athletics would starve already successful men’s programs. This is, unfortunately, true to some extent. George F. Will writes in his article “A Train Wreck Called Title Ix” on the Newsweek website that colleges terminated over 400 men 's athletic teams to produce precise proportionality between the genders enrollments and participation in athletics. Although growing women’s athletics did cause some shortage in funding for men it is illogical to deny rights to one people group for the sake of having excess in another group. Female athletic programs were easy to blame for terminating some men’s programs, but if the funding were split more evenly between minor and major sports those programs might have

One experience from personal experiences also illustrates the changes in how Title IX has affected sports. The first story takes place at Stanford University, a school with an athletic program that has been at the forefront of gender equity in sports. Boschert describes how the school’s Title IX, coordinator, Katie Martens, works tirelessly to ensure compliance with the law. Martens monitors the athletic department’s budget, ensure equal treatment of male and female athletes, and investigates complaints of discrimination. Her efforts have paid off, with the school receiving high marks for compliance with Title IX.

As of today, people are generalized to specific ideas, and life choices because of their gender. Despite being more open-minded, the general public still manages to keep each other limited to doing certain things just because of their sex. This is prevalent in the development of younger children. Jane McManus authored the article, “Gym Class Heroes—Making It Better For Girls Who Just Wanna Play Football,” where she highlights one common stereotype branded on girls. The article includes a prominent amount of personal experience, tone, and pathos making it credible to only a certain extent.

Title IX was meant to order change in American education by illiminating discrimination on gender, but instead it still has problems and could use some improvement. One of the main splits between men and women athletics is the pay gaps between the two sexes. The salary difference between the United States Mens and Womens National Teams proves this. For example, “Each player on the USWNT earns $99,000 per year provided the team wins 20 “friendlies” (exhibition matches), the minimum number of matches they would play. By contrast, each men’s player would earn $263,320 for the same feat and would still earn $100,000 if the team lost all 20 games,” (Walters 3).

Government provides support for sports participation by approving permits for it to take place within their jurisdiction (Hanold 2012). Athletics has always involved more males than females (Salkind 2006:124) through community action projects, young women and girls have the opportunity to participate in sport that is safe, inclusive and fun. SIRC 2013, Motivate Canada 2014. For example, the Title IX legislation of 1972 dramatically increased opportunities for girls to

“Imagine a bold plan for a world without discrimination in which women and men are equal partners in shaping their society and lives” (Nicole Kidman). Girls playing boy sports is something that needs to happen, boy sports such as football, baseball, and etc. Today people are starting to realize why girls are not allowed to play boy sports. All girls should be allowed to play boy sports for the following reasons: boys and girls have the same muscle structure, girls express themselves sometimes through sports, some girls play better than boys , and boys and girls are equal.

In the articles “40 Years Later, Title IX Is Still Fighting Perception It Hurt Men’s Sports” by Goodale and “Title IX Under Fire As Colleges Cut Teams” by Marbella and Wells, the authors discuss Title IX and the effects it has on sports. Both Miller and Marbella and Wells mention Title IX as a law put in place to protect young women’s dreams of sports in college by forcing colleges to have their sports’ teams gender proportionality match their school’s gender proportionality. As the law came into effect, women’s teams in colleges were set up and flourished to meet women’s interests and the law’s requirements (Marbella and Wells). Over the years, colleges cut back on men’s sports instead of adding more women’s teams.

In the article, “Title IX defeats male athletes” by Ann Coulter, she says that male’s teams are being decimated in pursuit of an insane feminist dream that has morphed into feral policy: to make women’s sports equal to men’s, but really this shouldn’t have happened. Women play different sports than men do, sports are all different, and they shouldn’t have to be equal. Some sports are for men, some sports are for women, and some sports are for both. Some of the sports that are for men, could be too competitive or too complicated, but the sports that are for women exist so that women don’t have to play a sport that might be too hard for them. So in a way, men’s and women’s sports are already equal if you think about it because there is something for men to play and something for women

Women have faced discrimination and stereotypes for thousands of years. What many people did not know though, is that it would take only one of them to transform not only the sports industry, but the outlook on women in everyday activities. Babe Zaharias Didrikson would not only become the greatest, and first, outstanding female athlete of the 1930’s, but would also be the leader of a movement in a time where being sexist was accepted, and where men dominated every aspect of life except for cleaning the house. Babe, being a physical power-house, dominated and participated in almost every sport imaginable to the mind. Through determination, strong will, and the persistence to overcome obstacles, Babe Zaharias Didrikson changed the world of sports forever by overcoming all common perceptions of women in her time and giving hope to all competitive souls of the sports world.

The three articles selected are entitled “The Gender Gap in Sport Performance: Equity Influences Equality” by Laura Capranica et al. , “100 Women: Is The Gender Pay Gap in Sport Really Closing?” by Valeria Perasso and “Gender Bias in American Sports: Lack of Opportunity, Lack of Administrative Positions and Lack of Coverage in Women’s Sports” by Erik F. Person. Generally, these three articles discussed about the gender gap in the field of sports which is often ignored and neglected. The gender gap in sports included a few aspects such as opportunity, media coverage, pay and sponsorship as well as participation and position.

Heightening Our Awareness of Gender Stereotypes by Phoebe Constaninou discusses the different ways there are gender bias in schools, specifically the gymnasium. When the topic “gender bias” comes up, most educators think it only affects females. While the Title IX helped make way for females, many thought it was not an issue anymore. Since more than forty percent of athletes are females and they did well on standardized tests, gender bias must be over. Constaninou identifies the different situations where gender bias is still pertinent, and not just for females.

For example, Title IX has empowered women not only in sports, but also in education and work. Marj Snyder, chief program officer of the Women's Sports Foundation, stated the number of women undergraduates before Title IX was a mere 35% ,and now the number has risen to 57% (Nauen). The rising number of female undergraduates is a direct correlation to Title IX, this proves the that Title IX has changed lives of women on and off the field. Correspondingly, in a report of the twenty-five years with Title IX, the Department of educations states that “the critical values learned from sports participation--including teamwork, standards, leadership, discipline, self-sacrifice, and pride in accomplishment -- are being brought to the workplace as women enter employment in greater numbers” (qtd. In Nauen).

In inclusion to having a good body image and being healthy, women participating in sports gives them a higher chance to graduate from school or college than those who do not play sports. Furthermore, athletic participation gives several students a chance for a higher education where it helps many middle/low-income students who may not be able to afford college, giving them access to this higher education. According to “Her Life Depends on it II” (2009), involvement in sports teaches women important professional lessons that have lifelong influence. For example, 80 percent of women identified as key leaders in Fortune 500 companies had participated in sports while growing up. Furthermore, 82 percent of executive businesswomen played sports, with the major part saying lessons learned on the playing field contributed to their success.

From my early childhood, I have been exposed to many examples of gender construction without realizing it, some of which I have experienced for myself. I remember one time in middle school when I tried out for the track team, I was deemed to be less proficient in the sport compared to a male that was trying out. The track team was a co-ed team. To me, it seemed like an opportunity that promoted gender equality since many sports are separated based on one’s gender. However, I remember a few boys giving me downgrading looks as though girls weren’t allowed to play the sport.

In society, sports media heavily favors men and not women. For example, when turning on ESPN, you are constantly watching baseball and football highlights which are sports that only give opportunities to males. Due to this, girls are faced with a lack of positive role models to look up to and aspire to be (Roper, 2013). In our society, sports are looked at as being masculine and geared toward males. Fear of social evaluation, anxiety related to playing a specific sport, and the expectedness to fulfill their expected social roles give males the competitive advantage (Roper, 2013).