Title IX; Know Your Rights

Even after 35 years since the passage of Title IX, a federal law granting girls and women in high schools and colleges the right to equal opportunity in sports, female athletes across the nation are placed at a disadvantage in comparison to their male counterparts. Definitely by passing this Title IX, there has been a great increase in female participation opportunities in sports. The Title IX opened doors for women to become doctors, lawyers, and college athletes. All boys and girls should have an equal chance at whatever they dream to be, not to be disregarded because of whatever gender, ethnicity, color of skin, etc. There is no research taht shows the boys are more interested in sports than girls. Girls are just as interested in sports as boys are when they are young, but because of the lack of enthusiasm and encouragement, girls are more likely to drop out of sports at a rate that is six times greater than boys. Through any donations or charity offers to a school's sport program, there must be an equal portion distributed to any sport, not discriminated by gender. Imagine what if your school was granted a large amount of money and it would only be used for white kids only? And the Title IX requires that equal benefits be afforded for both girls' and boys' teams such as having cheerleaders and bands cheer and support their teams. That would be totally unjust if you played on a team and were told that you could not have the support of cheerleaders because you aren't important enough. That would be an outrage, if you're a team, you're a team. You're a team for you school, you're a team for your fellow students. Anyone who plays on a sports team or school sports team is representing their teammates and everyone should be considered important. Everyone plays a team role on any team. Did you know that a girl must be allowed to try out for the boys' team if there is no girls' team for her in that sport? The Title IX says that any member of the "underrepresented sex" has to have a chance to play on the team of the overrepresented sex if that player is not provided a team of the player's own sex. It is okay for a school to say a girl or boy cannot play football for a non-gender-related reason like you are too small to play or not strong enough, as long as the standard is fairly applied to both boys and girls.

Masculine and feminine stereotypes are usually associated with strength with males and weakness in females. But all of us need to be strong. We all benefit from being confident, having high-self esteem, and being skilled at sport makes us feel good whether we are male or female. If a person doesn't play sports that is okay too. Our self-worth shouldn't be judged by our ability to play sports. There are plenty of other amazing qualities a person could have, not just being dependent on sports.

Kristina D.
KIN339I