Title IX or (9) was a panel discussion held at Alger Hall and was a recognition for Women and their movement in equality for the past 30 years. National Girls and Women in Sports Day is an annual event held each year around the United States to remember the emergence of Women in the sports setting and how they were able to break barriers and go from having minimal opportunity to a lot of opportunity. This event was intended for Health and Physical Education majors which is why I chose to take part in it but also welcomed any who were interested. It involved a discussion among the audience and six panelists who discussed the different opportunities, difficulties, barriers, and what it was like for women before and after the arrival of Title IX. So the question we must ask is what is Title IX? Title IX was an amendment and or rule that said on the basis of sex, no person shall be excluded from any educational program and or activities that receive funding. The discussion involved five panelists whom were Jackie Barto, Wilma Briggs, Jo-Ann D'Alessandro, Gail Davis,
and Cindy Neal. Each panelist in one form or another has a great involvement in Women and sports and talked about how they lead themselves as well as other Women to succeed in the sports setting. An open discussion was among all the women and the audience about how the opportunities for women before Title IX were meager. Factors such as how no organized teams outside of school and inside of school were reflected upon and when the women wanted to become involved, received a bad rap for participation in sports. Topics such as how men overruled the school setting because of their great accomplishments on the playing field also came into discussion. Some of the women on the panel were first hand accounts about what it was like trying to get involved and treated as equals in sports. The panelists from pre- Title IX explained what it was like when Title IX came into effect and even then it was like it didn't even happen. The panelists explained that when Title IX arrived it took some time to adapt to the world and setting and often they still had to fight to get playing time on the court and field and get a small funding for decent uniforms. Remembrance of certain stories came into play about how the men could travel together as a team on a bus and the Women didn't have a chance for that unity at all early on. After the acceptance of Title IX they discussed how the entire setting changed and their was always opportunity for not only women players but women coaches and new teams, and expansions made to leagues. This was one of the best parts of the discussion because I thought it perfectly solved the issues of women in sports. The panelists described everything that one would want to know and how Title IX's acceptance became a great solution for all the problems. In my opinion I thought the event was great, and it was the perfect learning experience to show that equality is growing among genders and the ability for everyone to get an opportunity is expanding.
Connection to Texts read in class: Title IX first relates to Kristof in his article on Land of Limitation because it talked about the ability for those who believe they can play in sports such as women but just never had an opportunity until Title IX arrived and just having an opportunity can present with significant growth in those who receive it. Secondly, Title IX relates to Delpit because of power. Power was a common theme in Delpit and it relates to this because men who were involved in sports didn't realize what it was like without them, where as women experienced a lack of power. Lastly the other source that it relates to is Johnson because differences in society present with challenges and to overcome these we must provide solutions and Title IX was a step in the right direction for Women.
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