Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 Essay

Women have fought for their rights for century and it seemed that they could achieve a lot by the 20^th century. Nonetheless, in the middle of the twentieth century, women still faced issues associated with discrimination. For instance, only two per cent of sport budgets of educational establishments were assigned to women and “athletic scholarships for women were nonexistent” (“The Battle for Gender Equity” 1).

At that, male students could get numerous scholarships and get involved in a variety of extracurricular activities. Funding of these spheres was significant. It is possible to assume that Americans were still unwilling to accept the truth that females had the right to participate in such spheres of social life as education and sport. Lots of sports were for men only and females who wanted to pursue their athletic inclinations were discriminated.

Interestingly, Title IX was not aimed at athletics and expanding of sport scholarships. It was enacted in 1972. Two Democrats from Oregon, Mink and Edith Green, introduced this law (Winslow n.p.). It was aimed at diminishing sex discrimination in federally funded schools. Later there were a number of amendments which were concerned with athletics and women’s participation in sport activities. It was supposed to increase funding of a variety of sport activities where female athletes were involved. Clearly, the law was not easily enacted as it faced a lot of opposition. Notably, the law also was subjected to several amendments which addressed different issues.

When it was enacted, institutions which were recipients of the federal funding had to ‘pass’ a three part test. In other words, these educational establishments had to prove they complied with three major concepts. First of all, they should offer equal opportunities for both genders to participate in various activities (“The Battle for Gender Equity” 1).

Furthermore, these establishments should allocate funds proportionately. Finally, educators have to treat both males and females equally in all situations. As has been mentioned above, the law was not accepted favorably and, hence, there were problems with its implementation. Thus, educators and officials were afraid that certain quotas could be introduced. Officials were reluctant to allocate funds in accordance with the law and tried to decrease general funding sport events.

Irrespective of these complications, Title X had a great impact on the development of female athletics. For instance, in 1971, around 295,000 females were involved in school athletic activities, which accounted for about 7% of all activities (Winslow n.p.). In 2001, almost 2.8 million females took part in numerous athletic activities, which accounted for more than 40% of all sport events (Winslow n.p.).

These numbers suggest that the American society became more open and lots of women became more active as well. It became easier for them to participate in athletic events and loads of females took their chance. It is also necessary to note that there was an enormous cultural effect as now it is common for females to take part in sport activities. Viewers as well as participants take it for granted.

However, there is still a lot of controversy especially when it comes to such kinds of sports as wrestling or football. On the one hand, these sports are even now associated with men. Hence, people were reluctant to admit that these kinds of sports are not purely for males. It was believed that it was even immoral for a woman to participate in such kinds of sports.

However, it is necessary to add that this issue was not simply cultural. It also involved financial issues. Thus, educational establishments had to provide equal funding to both male and female athletes according to the law. Instead of increasing funding of female teams, officials started reducing male teams’ funding. Therefore, the law had a negative impact on development of male sport activities. This was seen as an important downside of the law which could make lawmakers reconsider its enactment.

The whole story can be regarded as an illustration of the way societal norms change and the very society is developing. Thus, in the middle of the twentieth century, people could not even think of a well-developed industry of female sports. At that time, women had to overcome numerous constraints and participated in sport events in spite of negative reaction of some spectators and officials. More so, lots of women did not think they should pursue their athletic goals even though they had high chances to succeed.

At present, females take part in various sport events. Importantly, women have lots of opportunities to obtain higher education via athletic scholarships. Apparently, legislation positively affected development of the society. Clearly, there were loads of issues and people opposed to the law. There were attempts to ignore Title X as well. Nonetheless, the law made people comply with its norms and gradually these concepts transformed into particular values. Therefore, it is possible to affect development of the society with the help of legislation though it sometimes needs considerable amount of time.

Works Cited

The Battle for Gender Equity in Athletics in Colleges and Universities. 2011. Web.

Winslow, Barbara. The Impact of Title X. n.d. Web.