Title IX: Gender Roles In Sports

Title IX: How do gender roles affect athletics? Throughout the semester, the course Gender and Communication has made me think in ways I never have. In this course, I was able to see things through a different lens. Since the course was seminar based, we were fortunate enough to hear from students from with many different backgrounds. We obviously had male and female students, but we also had those who play sports, those involved in Greek life, and those who are involved in clubs etc. I became interested in the topic of Title IX for many reasons. I have been involved in high school and collegiate athletics for a total of nine years now. I first learned about Title IX my freshman year of high school. The topic came up in a conversation about the baseball team versus the softball team. This pointed me towards a topic question of how do gender roles affect athletics? I researched Title IX to learn more about the legislation and attempt to connect it to the course. Title IX attempts to prevent a sexual double standard between men and women. Through research, it was obvious there were and continue to be many constraints for females in athletics. …show more content…
The website, “History” states on June 23, 1972, the Education Amendment was developed by Congress and was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. There were several sponsors of Title IX, spearheaded by Birch Bayh in the Senate, and Edith Green in the House of Representative. Through affirming of this amendment, the law passed and stated, “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” (“NCAA”). Although this law was passed, it does not mean discrimination based on gender is no longer an issue. Women may have a feeling of learned helplessness because of continued