In 1970, congresswoman Edith Green and senator Birch Bayh came up with the idea of Title IX in congressional hearings on equal rights for women. As the bill made its way through congress, it was kept from the public in order to minimize congress. Title IX was signed by Richard Nixon. It required equal access for women in all facets of education, especially athletics: "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."
The full impact of Title IX became clear in 1975 when the government made rules that gave colleges and universities three years to comply with the gender equality provision of the act. The law made a far reaching impact on women's athletics. In 1974, fewer than 300,000 girls played high school sports, while there are 3.1 million girls playing today.
An event that soon followed the passing of Title IX was Battle of the Sexes, where Riggs, a former male tennis champion, challenged Billie Jean King, a famous female tennis player. The match was attended by more than 30,000. King defeated Riggs, and this became a symbol for the feminist movement. The match helped legitimize women's athletics and encouraged girls to take up sports. Title IX expanded much more opportunities for female athletes, and today, we can still see its impact.
Nice blog post. I like how you traced the legislative process of Title IX but also explained the material impacts it had. My question would be, do you think the problem is closed to being fixed? Women sports today, for instance, are still underfunded and often undervalued for their lack of profits. How do you think, through legislation or other avenues, we can fix this terrible double standard?
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post. We have gone over so many civil rights movements in class, and the women's liberation movement is one of the more important ones. Title IX was a landmark decision, and its impact can be seen today in college athletics, helping more women participate in sports. Great lengths have been made to even the playing field between women and men, and this is where it started.
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