What Is Title IX?
Katlyn Yang
Core 3
Feb. 13, 2015

On June 23, 1972, President Richard Nixon signed a law called Title IX was passed that gave equality to girls saying they have every right that men have, by sharing equal rights. Even after Title IX was put into effect there were many ups and downs in Congress. Title IX benefits both boys and girls and took 40 years of efforts to promote and establish gender equity in schools. Title IX is a portion of the Education Amendments that protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. Title IX is not only applied to sports, that is only one of the key areas said on the law. All the key areas on the law are access to higher learning, career education, education for pregnant or parenting students, employment, athletics, learning environment, math & science, sexual harassment, standardized testing & technology, and sports. The objective of Title IX is to avoid the use of federal money, to support sex discrimination in education programs and individual citizen get effective protection from those practices. Having Title IX is a relief that our past generations have created for the women of this generation to live our lives with equality that everyone deserves.
Title IX has done so much for women in our generation in order to be treated fairly and equally. Before Title IX, women received no scholarships, few women participated in athletics, women were limited in education, smaller salaries, and no teaching in college/universities. Before Title IX only 1 in 27 girls played varsity high school sports, and then in 2001 up to 1 in every 2 girls played high school sports. In 2001, women received 47% of law degrees and 43% of medical degrees compared in 1972 women received only 7% of law degrees and 9% of medical degrees. Research has showed that girls who had opportunities to play sports because of Title IX has a 7% lower risk of obesity 20 to 25 years later when they are in their late 30s and early 40s. Female students-athletes are less likely to do drugs or smoke and have lower rates of both sexual activity and pregnancy than non-athletes. Girls who play sports are more likely to graduate from high school, have higher grades, and score higher on standardized tests than non-athletes. But since Title IX came many good opportunities came to women such as higher graduation rates, fairness in admissions & finical aid, receive scholarships, better health, acceptance & separate programs for pregnant or parenting students, upper level math & science majors (AP Calculus up 6% and AP Physics up 10%).
Title IX was designed to end discrimination against women, but at the time was discriminating men for example, in 1997 Boston University dropped its football program due to Title IX pressures after 91 years, UCLA dropped its swimming and diving team and men’s gymnastics team, and Princeton University ended their wrestling program. Since 1969, 212 men’s gymnastics teams have been dropped. Over the past decade, 335 men’s college wrestling teams have been eliminated. The losses to men’s athletics are more than about 2,200 men’s athletic teams have been eliminated and since 1982, over 64 schools have discontinued swimming and diving programs. Men’s Olympic sports in college (baseball, swimming, tennis, soccer, wrestling, etc.) are slowly disappearing under pressure to achieve equity in gender under Title IX. This is a disturbing trend that was never intended to happen what Title IX was signed. Title IX has achieved the increased opportunities for woman like it set out to do, but has only resulted hurting the opportunities for male athletes. On the good side men’s participation has increased by 15% in high school and 31% in college. There are good and bad sides to Title IX.
Edith Starrett Green was born on January 17, 1910, in Trent, South Dakota and was a U.S congresswoman from 1954 to 1974. Green’s legislative interests were