By Wendy Blake
On May 18, 2022, the United States Soccer Federation announced a deal to pay the U.S. Women’s and U.S. Men’s National Soccer Teams equally. This historic achievement might never have occurred were it not for a single paragraph added to the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX 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.”
The 50th anniversary of the legislation is being celebrated at the New-York Historical Society (NYHS) in an exhibition called “Title IX: Activism On and Off the Field,” which opened on May 13 and will run until September 4.
“The focus on sex discrimination in education and on access to education really highlights how foundational Title IX is to larger societal change,” co-curator Allison Robinson told West Side Rag. “It’s powerful to consider how much has shifted since this phrase was incorporated in the Education Acts of 1972.”
When Title IX was passed, many universities and colleges were still denying admission to women and jobs to female faculty; female students had no recourse in cases of sexual misconduct; and women’s sports programs were appallingly overlooked.
In contrast, in 2019, women earned 57% of all bachelor’s degrees in the U.S., according to the NYHS, and the percentage of female faculty in higher education has more than doubled to 54%. Grievance procedures are in place at all schools for people who are the victims of sexual harassment and violence. And more than 190,000 women compete in intercollegiate sports, six times as many as in 1972.
The progress initiated by Title IX has by no means been a straight line. Hard-won victories have been achieved by activists, politicians, students and others working to fend off challenges to the law.
The exhibition highlights landmark events in the fight for women’s parity. It includes items from the archives of Billie Jean King (an Upper West Sider) and the Women’s Sports Foundation, both of which are housed at the NYHS, and from activists’ personal collections. They include official documents, letters, protest posters, photos, videos, athletic uniforms, and consumer products.
One of the items Ms. Robinson is most proud of is an original copy of the 1990 Clery Act, which she refers to as Title IX’s “sister act.” Named after a murdered college student, it requires schools receiving federal funds to disclose crime statistics.
Another of her treasured items is a sweatshirt worn (and removed) by a female Yale crew member participating in a 1976 “strip-in” to demand proper shower facilities. Members of the team stripped in the athletic director’s office to reveal “Title IX” painted on their bodies.
Also highlighted are the “Take Back the Night” protests, which continue to this day and are meant to raise awareness of sexual violence on campuses.
Various objects bear witness to the increasing visibility of professional women athletes, including Serena Williams’ tennis dress and gymnast Mary Lou Retton’s shoe. Wheaties boxes feature images of superstar athletes, such as runner Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and there are Barbie dolls modeled after sports celebrities.
The exhibition addresses the contemporary applications of Title IX to LGBTQ+ students—for instance, the successful gender discrimination case of high school sophomore Gavin Grimm, who sued his school board to be allowed to use the restroom matching his gender identity.
The exhibition also touches on the hot-button issue of trans and non-binary students in sports: On display is the cross-country T-shirt that high school student Lindsay Hecox wore while testifying in a federal lawsuit against Idaho, the first state to ban transgender women and girls from playing on women’s sports teams at public schools, colleges and universities. That case is still pending.
The fight for women’s parity persists in new forms. One of the most impactful was a 2021 TikTok video in which Sedona Prince, a college basketball player, contrasts the massive men’s gym at her school with a paltry set of weights for the women. “Women are still fighting for bits and pieces of equality,” she says. Major changes in gender parity were made within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) after her TikTok — merely 38 seconds long — went viral.
The oldest museum in New York City, the New-York Historical Society is located at 170 Central Park West at 77th Street. For further information check the website.
The men’s team is subsidizing the women’s team. The men’s world cup is a multi billion dollar event watched by billions. The women’s is not. That’s reality.
Correct. The men and the federation are just sharing their pot now with the women. The men are now getting much less. The European men will never allow this.
Among the many important parts of this outstanding exhibition is a focus on Alexander v. Yale. In the late 1970s, Yale students (undergraduate feminists) became the first in the U.S. to take their own university into federal court in a class action lawsuit on sexual harassment. The case was partly won and partly lost, but today remains a crucial legal linchpin in all Title IX activism on college campuses regarding rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment. It’s great that these courageous young women are being remembered.
The devil is in the details. While the spirit of the law is absolutely progressive ( in the positive sense of the word ), the outcomes sometimes were far from that. For example, more than 400 men’s athletic teams have been eliminated as a result of Universities needing to become NCAA compliant. This is a statistic, but when you are an athlete in one of those programs, it’s a life-changing event. https://www.athleticscholarships.net/title-ix-college-athletics-9.htm#:~:text=More%20than%20400%20men's%20athletic,when%20Title%20IX%20was%20introduced.Male college students on campuses now often don’t have a recourse against false sexual-misconduct allegations. https://www.duffylawct.com/false-accusations-under-title-ix/. So real-life things are more complex than this exhibit showcases, but there is no question that it was a huge step in the right direction.
Women allow men, who have male genitalia, to participate in women’s sports. Pathetic.
Men “allow” women who have female genitalia to compete on mens teams all the time. Every time a woman is on a mens football or baseball team, every body cheers. They are taking a way a spot from a male.
I believe you are referring to the fact that Transgender males IDENTIFYING AS FEMALE, but who still retain male sex organs, have been allowed to participate in women’s sports.
It IS controversial, NOT because of genitalia but rather body-strength, accumulated muscle mass, etc.
Suggest you Google “transgender males and women’s sports” to learn more.
Oh, and B/T/W: it’s NOT “women allowing men” but the athletic organizations which govern these sports.
No, it’s women allowing men. See, if all women in sports, at every level, just said “No. We will not participate”, everything will go back to how it was, you know, like five years ago. But women don’t have the guts to stand up for themselves. As a woman, I am saying that.
I don’t think reproductive organs is an issue here, but having fully developed male bodies compete against female athletes while using Title IX ( which was created to have level field for women ) to push for it underscores the absurdity of the society that we live in.
There is not a single trans male consistently dominating—winning trophies or breaking records—in men’s sports.
Biological males should not be competing in female sports.
Will the misogynistic backlash never end?
It will end the day all women, from high school girls to senior citizens, unite and say “enough” and refuse to participate in women’s sports until this is reversed.