Title IX creates an inefficient bureaucracy that fails to address the real causes of sexism and instead creates problems in regulations and further inequalities. Title IX provides opportunities to female athletes, but at the expense of lesser known male sports teams. Title IX, like many other laws, has good intentions but lacks the resources to support it. It is not right that the University of Minnesota “axed its trophy winning men’s gymnastics team,” (Source A) simply because it needed to spend more money on women’s sports to fulfill the quotas established by Title IX (Source B).
If the government is going to require that the female sports teams of all institutions, “receiving financial assistance,” (Source C) to meet quotas, it is going to have to provide enough funds to support sports of both genders. “In 1994, two hundred and seventeen new women’s teams were created nationwide while only ninety male teams were,” (Source F).
It is not right to try to improve the status of one group if it is going to detriment the other.
Furthermore, if no one supports women playing sports, it is pointless for them to do so. “There are fewer women involved in college athletics because women in General have historically been discouraged from participating in sports,” (Source B).
Government programs like Title IX are ineffective in changing our “legacy of sexism,” (Source C).
Instead, we rely on the work of a dedicated few such as the famous female tennis player, Billie Jean King (Source E).
The Essay on sports vs women
Sports are a very important part of the American society. Within sports heroes are made, goals are set and dreams are lived. The media makes all these things possible by creating publicity for the rising stars of today. Within society today, the media has downplayed the role of the woman within sports. When the American people think of women in sports, they think of ice skating, field hockey and ...
Motivated individuals and organizations are frequently found to be more effective than government programs. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. and the efforts of community organizations accomplished more in the fight for civil rights than any government program. There is no way that an impersonal bureaucracy can possibly, “produce positive social change,” (Source B).
The gender stereotypes of today are deeply rooted, but will hopefully fade as women continue to prove themselves equal to men. The fight for gender equality in sports goes way beyond simply how many sports teams there are for women.
The “legacy of sexism” (Source A) hinders females in sports just as it does in education and business. Striving for equality in sports may be one step towards combating sexism. After all, it is easier to initiate cultural changes in the world of sports than the cut-throat business area. Title IX is not very effective because it applies to college sports. Colleges do not have to worry about the pressures of supply and demand (Source B) and are more open to change. Colleges may be more accepting of change, but will a whole society that, “holds deeply imbedded ideas about power and strength and competition being masculine qualities,” (Source D) ever fully support women’s sports? Title IX was created to fight sexism in sports yet it fails to address why sexism exists. Meanwhile, it is creating further divisions between popular sports, such as football, and lesser known sports, such as gymnastics, by cutting funding for men’s sports. Title IX is creating more complicated problems than effective solutions.
