Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Still misunderstood: Title IX at 35

I've written before about media coverage of Title IX, and here's another study of interest to women's sports advocates: An analysis of editorials in the nation's major newspapers shows that "men as victims" mythology lives on even in arguments that generally support the law. It's the "we know women should have equal rights in theory, but ...." line of reasoning -- which can be used to ultimately justify inequity.

6 comments:

Button said...

as a swimmer, coach, and father of sons who swim, i've seen first-hand the damage that title ix has caused in our sport.

to claim that it's "mythology" is a tremendous insult.

title ix activists have used spin, intimidation, as well as fudged statistics to hide the fact that title ix enforcement is wiping out men's sports.

thanks to title ix, more women have had opportunities in athletics than in the past. that's what it's supposed to be all about.

those who've had children may soon begin to look at it from a different angle, though.

many of their sons won't have the same opportunities to participate in collegiate athletics.

hardly a myth...more like a sad truth.

Button said...

Ms. Hardin,

I commented on this post yesterday.

I hope you intend to post the comment, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

If you don't intend to post it, that's a shame. It wasn't vulgar. It wasn't threatening. It wasn't dishonest.

I certainly hope that someone in the business of educating journalists wouldn't censor opposing viewpoints.

Sincerely,

Button

Anonymous said...

Would you do me a favor and tell my 10 year old son why it is that he can't play his sports for his schools, but the girls can? Can you tell my godson why even though girls can play any sport they wish, that even though he is smaller than all of them he's not allowed to play field hockey because women won't allow him the same rights as the girls. Can you sit down with both of them and explain why the girls get to go to challenger space program and they don't get that chance.. or the science camps at the two local universities? Why they had to read Alie's basketball dream in second grade, but reading Vampirates was a no-no.

No, those newspapers are saying Title IX in theory is a great law, but in practice it is discriminatory wreck that punishes young boys for no other reason than they happen to be wrong the gender.

The proponents of modern Title IX implementation have taken the sexism of the chauvinists which necessitated Title IX and combined vindictiveness to deprive young boys of equal access to sports and education.

Anonymous said...

By the way, after seeing the articles about the girls getting crew scholarships with no prior athletic experience, let alone rowing time, my wife and I were wondering where the boys can get a scholarship like that to a D1 school.

We figure since the girls get more opportunities in science and the primary reading is tilted more toward the girls, they'll have an easier time getting the educational scholarships.

Since your position is that boys are not victims of discrimination, there MUST be a few scholarships like that somewhere for boys right? Maybe a fencing program in Boise or something?

Or, could it be that boys' athletic participation is limited to the girls' interest levels and their academic aptitude second tiered, that somehow Title IX isn't necessarily as perfect as you portray it to be.

When the newspapers point it out, it's not that they don't like equality - it might just be that they're fighting for it.

Anonymous said...

I think that this would be something very appropriate for your blog to talk about. Women and girls need to be considered equals in life, and as my story shows, girls can earn the respect they deserve. A very young girls' soccer team played in a league that they dominated. The girls won every game, even against other girls that were older than them. Their coach made a bold move and put them into the boys league. This was met with some criticism, but as the girls did exceptionally well, it made people stop and think about what was fair and right concerning girls and boys. People should not be discriminated against based on gender, and these girls overcame that discrimination. Watch the trailer at www.kicklikeagirlmovie.com and see what you think.

Cheers!

Alayna Ferrin
Public Relations
Cobalt Communications Group

e. alaynaf@cobaltcg.com

Anonymous said...

Ms. Ferrin,

Those girls deserve no respect. Not because of their skills, but because they took special privileges that boys wouldn't have.
Have you seen what happens when ONE boy tries to be on a girls' team, let alone a whole boys' team playing in a girls' league?

They might be decent soccer players, but lack as people. You're raising them to be princess with special privileges. Tell them now if someone treats them differently because they are girls, that YOU not only found it acceptable, but actually a good thing.

Hope you enjoy your discrimination!