Title IX And Gender Equality

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Although gender equality is still a prevalent issue in the United States today, gender discrimination was a greater problem fifty years ago. Women were excluded from earning a higher education, obtaining particular jobs, and participating in most sports based solely on their gender. It was not until 1972 that Congress decided to make significant progress through the Education Amendments Act. The Act contained an important section called Title IX that specifically outlawed discrimination based on sex in all education programs funded by the federal government. Since its passage, Title IX has made an enormously significant impact on decreasing sex discrimination; if it were never passed gender equality today would be less widely supported and accepted for women than it is. Culture of the 1960’s and 1970’s, stereotypes towards women, and widespread exclusion from numerous educational programs prior to Title IX had exceeded a peak of tolerance for many women, and change at that point became necessary. However, despite the fact that Title IX has indeed aided women’s status within educational programs (sports especially) and continues to today, it is apparent that the law has also resulted in a decrease in the ability of men to participate in sports due to efforts to comply with Title IX, especially at the collegiate level. Quotas established by Title IX and individual institutions’ athletic budget limits force many colleges to cut certain men’s programs rather than add women’s programs. Title IX was created in order to increase gender equality within federally funded programs, and it has accomplished this goal regarding women’s programs; however, it has also damaged participation in sports programs for men and continues to so.
The Effe...

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...rent, for Title IX or a similar law might have been passed eventually, but it took many years for the nation to adapt to it. I may not have had the freedom to participate in any sport I wanted to without Title IX’s passage forty years ago. However, despite the law’s good intentions and positive effects for women, it has also damaged men’s sports programs and continues to do so. Compliance rules for Title IX have forced institutions to prioritize how their athletic budget is distributed, which has caused a decrease in non-revenue producing men’s sports programs. Because Title IX is now forty years old, perhaps it is time to revise the law so that opportunities for male athletes participating in non-revenue producing sports programs are prevented from decreasing further, or better yet, by reversing the negative effects of Title IX and increasing those opportunities.

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