Although the law is responsible for so much progress, the work is not done. Women who play sports have been required to be thankful for scraps for a long time.
Title IX was passed in 1971 and requires progress in gender equity for schools receiving federal funding. When I was a kid, I had to go to neighborhood games just to play basketball because no one drove me to an organized basketball practice. I was told from a young age that girls don't like sports.
It was not intended to apply to sports. The goal was to get women into the law schools that had strict quota, and the medical schools that didn't. In 1970 only 3 percent of lawyers were women, now they make up 54 percent of law school students. The majority of college students are women.
Title IX has been a huge success. Women still lag in some areas but the doors are not closed to them.
It's to sports.
The implementation of Title IX in sports has been as controversial as it has been in the rest of the world.
Women have been successful in the space despite the backlash and the fact that women's sports are a waste of time and money. 20 years ago, wrestling coaches blamed Title IX for college decisions to cut some men's sports, when in reality those schools were often investing in football and men's basketball.
Oklahoma State has an actual, flesh-and-blood horse on hand for professional-grade photoshoots with football recruits. When it comes to locker rooms, amenities, stadiums and coaching salaries, the football arms race is the stuff of legend. It is easier to blame women's sports than it is to blame the athletic department.
While in the men's tournament hotel, a ball room had been turned into a gym, a basketball player posted a triangle of weights on the floor.
Fifty years.
The celebration is about how long institutions can keep women out of sports. Women in positions of power are still not appreciated by NCAA schools. The percentage of women who serve as athletic directors is 7.5 percent. Only 5 of the 65 Power 5 schools had women in the lead role according to USA Today.
The money should be followed. When it comes to college sports, men still make the decisions.
Women are still fighting to get the resources and recognition the law requires when it comes to sport. There is still a cultural opposition to women in the space. I could have ignored it if I hadn't gone into sports because of my love of playing sports.
A woman in media may be the only one in a locker room. We might have to sort into a sideline role based on her attractiveness to a male executive or behind-the-scenes role based on her attractiveness to a female executive. We are aged out of television at an accelerated rate due to the fact that only a small amount of the job is about our expertise and more about the appeal to a male sports audience.
The fight for women in professional sports has been joined by athletes who have invested in other women's sports. Sue Bird talks about how sports radicalized her on the ladies room show. Being a woman in sports is to be aware of all the disadvantages that women face.
Title IX has made it harder for women to play sports. There were a lot of opportunities when I was a kid. Children are grouped into teams based on cultural reasons. rigidity encourages exclusion of people who don't fit in. It's fuel for people who wouldn't allow their children to play if it wasn't necessary.
Inclusive play is needed. It helps us realize we can work with each other.
The law doesn't get us over the finish line in sports.
When it comes to the inequalities that persist, I intend to follow the example of Sedona Prince.
The problem should have been fixed.
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