Title IX or Title None
Juliette S. - LLI Akron
For many years now, women have always been beneath men. We have been considered inferior because of our gender. In order to make women and men equal, Title IX was passed.
“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. ”
What the law means, is that men and women are supposed to be equal. Now, even though there is a law doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be followed.
When it comes to Title IX, all schools are supposed to follow this policy. I can tell you first handedly that not all schools do. I participated in track and field for 2 years which means I had to deal with the girls locker room for 2 years. Our locker room consists of a concrete floor with cubbies, a couple of benches to sit on, a bathroom with no soap and often no toilet paper, and a water fountain that is not safe to drink from. The boys locker room, on the other hand, is carpeted, they have a flat screen TV, cubbies with their numbers and names engraved, heat control, air conditioning, and beautiful restrooms. I would like to know why this is fair or okay by any means. The answer? It’s not.
Another controversial topic is equal pay between women and men. The Equal Pay Act explicitly explains equal pay, but Carli Lloyd, a member of the National Women’s Soccer League, feels that her employers are not complying with the law. “If I were a male soccer player who won a World Cup for the United States, my bonus would be $390,000. Because I am a female soccer player, the bonus I got for out World Cup victory last summer was $75,000” (Carli Lloyd, Why I’m fighting for Equal Pay-The New York Times). Because of this problem, her and four other teammates have filed a complaint against the federation, and a 30% increase agreement was reached. But equality wasn’t.
“Yet while the women’s players can claim significant gains, including on non-economic issues like travel and working conditions, the new deal does not guarantee them equal pay with the men’s national team” (Long days, Google Docs, and Anonymous Survey: How the US Soccer Team Forged a Deal- The New York Times).
So, at the end of the day, there’s only so much that can be changed when it comes to gender equality. We can put in the hours, the effort, and be the most dedicated, but until we as a culture can collectively say that men and women are equal, there’s nothing we can do.
SOURCES CONSIDERED:
- Glover, William H., Jr. "Gender Participation Issues Related to Sports - Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972." Web Blog Post. Lexis Hub - Practice Legal Commentary. LexisNexis, 3 March 2011.
- Lloyd, Carli. "Carli Lloyd: Why I'm Fighting for Equal Pay." Web Blog Post. The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 10 April 2016.
- Das, Andrew. "Long Days, Google Docs and Anonymous Surveys: How the U.S. Soccer Team Forged a Deal." Web Blog Post. The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 5 April 2017.
- Rios, Edwin. "The US Women's Soccer Team Scored a Much-Needed Pay Bump." Web Blog Post. Mother Jones. 5 April 2017.