Examination of Title IX flaws

Essay by bjork7713University, Bachelor'sB, December 2006

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The Inequalities of Equality

Sporting events have always been a way for humans to measure their skills, boost their egos, and of course, compete against each other. Since man discovered he could run, he then sought to discover what, or who he could outrun. Clearly times have changed, drastically.

Government funded, scholastic institutions have long since adopted sports as their "healthy" pastime. Besides, what could be more educational than strategizing with a football team about how to best run directly into another person? On the elementary and high school levels of academically endorsed sports, competition is enjoyed as it should be: solely for the purpose of entertainment. But it's at the tier beyond these that sports become far more than entertainment. With hundreds of millions of dollars worth of scholarships being dished out annually by universities, it's not surprising that college athletes would fight for their piece of the fiscal pie.

It's because of this fight that in 1972 the Federal Government enacted the ominous Title IX. Amongst pages and pages of cyclical jargon Title IX aptly states: "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." This is a very fair and necessary ideal.

Although it's true that women were often denied their right to participate in sports prior to Title IX, it has now evolved into nothing more than a stringent tool of equality instead of the practical law it once was. In her essay, "Title IX: Gender Equality in College Sports," author Robyn E. Blumner refers to recent applications of the law as ". . .a rigidly applied formula that uses the radical feminist pipe...