Title IX

Today is the 40th anniversary of Title IX, http://www.dol.gov/oasam/regs/statutes/titleix.htm the federal legislation that made it illegal to discriminate against anyone, no matter the sex, in an educational institute that receives federal money.  ESPN is celebrating "The Power of IX" by airing 180 hours of women's sports.  Well, sort of, because they are including the NASCAR Nationwide Race, because Danica Patrick is in the race. ESPN has rated the top 40 female athletes http://espn.go.com/espnw/title-ix/top-40-female-athletes/_/num/41. Sheryl Swoopes, star of the Texas Tech 1993 NCAA Women's National  Basketball Champions  is rated 16th.

Senator Birch Bayh http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=b000254 is credited as the author of Title IX.

I remember when I was a girl, I could not attend shop class, it was for boys only.  I took an NRA gun safety class.  My female neighbor had done so a few years earlier, so my parents had a hard time saying "no." It was not just about learning gun safety. It was about doing something that was traditionally male. The teachers treated me like a freak!  But I had the highest score in the class. I had to prove myself.

I wanted to go to veterinarian school: there were few programs that had more than token slots open to women.  Now, women are a large part of the the veterinarians students in many programs.

I do sometimes take for granted the things that were not opened to women long ago. I should not. I remember the doors that were closed to women. Title IX did more than open doors for sports: it opened doors for all educational opportunities http://www.titleix.info/.  Yet, I do not see other organizations acknowledging this important legislation.

There is a member of my family who says that there is nothing cultural about sports. I disagree. I think sports is a very important part of our culture. And sports impacts so many facets of our lives! And, Title IX has had a major impact on sports. 

Thank you Title IX!