The Importance of Title IX
The United States has been a country dedicated to ending discrimination on all levels. Passage of the Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments gave African Americans and women the right to vote while the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 forbid discrimination on the basis or race, color, or national origin. Title IX is a necessary extension of this law by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender.
Many people today believe that Title IX forces schools to cut men’s sports and is simply a form of reverse discrimination. This, however, is completely false. Title IX consists of three prongs of compliance, and a school must choose only one to meet the standards. The first prong requires substantially proportionate athletic opportunities for male and female athletes. The second option requires that a school show a history and continuing practice of expanding opportunities for the under-represented sex. Finally a school complies with Title IX if, numbers aside, the under-represented sex receives equal quality of resources and services. The third prong is the most important as obviously schools will spend more money on football gear than volleyball uniforms, but as long as both receive equal quality uniforms the school will be in compliance. This way, no school should have to cut men’s teams as they only need to choose to comply with the third prong.
Title IX is also important as it establishes programs and protections against sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is a problem faced by both males and females, faculty and students. Without Title IX, there would be no standard for schools to handle sexual harassment cases and these cases could end up tossed aside without being handled. Schools now are required to have a set policy to deal with all sexual harassment complaints. This in turn protects all genders from the horrible ordeal of sexual harassment.
More importantly than the issue of Title IX involvement in sports, which is the most common usage, is Title IX’s impact on women in education. Since Title IX’s enactment in 1972 the number of women pursuing careers in mathematics and science has sky-rocketed. Title IX made it possible for women to become active in these male-dominated fields and they have flourished. Without Title IX, the long history of gender discrimination would have continued and many people would have suffered from the effects. Title IX promotes equality for both genders and has increased women’s participation in both education and athletics. For this reason, Title IX is a valuable program and should remain in effect.
P.S. If anyone wants to talk more about this, just ask.
The United States has been a country dedicated to ending discrimination on all levels. Passage of the Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments gave African Americans and women the right to vote while the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 forbid discrimination on the basis or race, color, or national origin. Title IX is a necessary extension of this law by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender.
Many people today believe that Title IX forces schools to cut men’s sports and is simply a form of reverse discrimination. This, however, is completely false. Title IX consists of three prongs of compliance, and a school must choose only one to meet the standards. The first prong requires substantially proportionate athletic opportunities for male and female athletes. The second option requires that a school show a history and continuing practice of expanding opportunities for the under-represented sex. Finally a school complies with Title IX if, numbers aside, the under-represented sex receives equal quality of resources and services. The third prong is the most important as obviously schools will spend more money on football gear than volleyball uniforms, but as long as both receive equal quality uniforms the school will be in compliance. This way, no school should have to cut men’s teams as they only need to choose to comply with the third prong.
Title IX is also important as it establishes programs and protections against sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is a problem faced by both males and females, faculty and students. Without Title IX, there would be no standard for schools to handle sexual harassment cases and these cases could end up tossed aside without being handled. Schools now are required to have a set policy to deal with all sexual harassment complaints. This in turn protects all genders from the horrible ordeal of sexual harassment.
More importantly than the issue of Title IX involvement in sports, which is the most common usage, is Title IX’s impact on women in education. Since Title IX’s enactment in 1972 the number of women pursuing careers in mathematics and science has sky-rocketed. Title IX made it possible for women to become active in these male-dominated fields and they have flourished. Without Title IX, the long history of gender discrimination would have continued and many people would have suffered from the effects. Title IX promotes equality for both genders and has increased women’s participation in both education and athletics. For this reason, Title IX is a valuable program and should remain in effect.
P.S. If anyone wants to talk more about this, just ask.
posted by Bridget Farr @ 9:12 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home