Chaundra Sewell gets fouled while driving to the basket during the game Saturday afternoon against Boise State. Though Title IX has made great strides in gender equality, especially in athletics, a large disparity still exists between men and women.
Title IX attempted to eliminate gender discrimination. It made it so women couldn’t be barred from athletic or academic programs, but in terms of gender equality, America is still off the mark.
My grandmother, Margie McDonald, tells the story of how when she was a little girl the only career options open to her were teaching, nursing or secretarial work. Now more women are graduating with bachelor’s and professional degrees than men, but according to AAUW Graduating Pay Gap Report, women only earn 84 percent of what men do one year after graduating college.
NPR reported that at the London Olympics American women earned almost twice as many medals as men for the first time. Sadly, Title IX also had the unforseen effect of shrinking men’s athletic programs. Title IX was needed in order to open the door for women in education, but needs to be revisited to make sure that gender inequality does not continue for another four decades.
In the early 1970’s civil rights were years in the making and aimed to make sure that discrimination was illegal. Before Title IX women could be turned down from math and science programs and not considered athletes like their male counter parts. Now in some classes, women far outnumber men and some people now wonder if men are victims of reverse discrimination. Equality does not mean that the former victims must become the oppressors, but that all people should be given equal opportunities.
The wage gap is still unsettling. If women are earning more college degrees than men, then it would be natural to assume that after college they would have equal opportunities, but the statistics show that perhaps some old preconceptions about gender, and the kinds of jobs men and women should hold, still carry over.
Title IX allowed women equal opportunities, but outside of college gender biases still persist. USA Today reported that there are a record number of women in Congress, but men still make up the vast majority, and there has yet to be a female president.
Title IX got the ball rolling for gender equality but the effects still have yet to trickle up the leadership ladder to the highest positions. Even 41 years after Title IX passed we are still experiencing problems with gender equality for both men and women. Perhaps in another 40 years the goal of gender equality will finally be achieved.
