Junior Research Paper First Draft Serena Williams, Mia Hamm, Alex Morgan, Billie Jean-King, what do all of these great record beating athletes have in common? They’re all women. Less than 50 years ago it was unimaginable for woman to be playing sports besides tennis and cheerleading. Woman did not have the opportunities that men did to go out and try out for any sport that they wanted. This all changed when a group of women decided that women deserve the same sports opportunities as men. In the early 70’s these women created a revolutionary bill called Title IX. Title IX is a bill that states that any school that receives federal funding must give equal opportunities to women who want to play sports. This bill created a new world for women …show more content…
Women continue to break barriers in sports and create new ideas of what it is to be a female athlete. In 2012 nearly every country sent at least 1 woman to compete in the Olympics. Despite all help that Title IX has provided women there is still controversy surrounding this bill. There are people who believe that in order for so many women to have been able to play sports there had to be certain departments and people who had to suffer. No matter what view one has on Title IX it is agreed that women have been helped majorly and changed the way sports were seen by both sexes. The argument isn't about whether or not Title IX has helped women but whether or not Title IX has done more good for women than it has done harm to men's sports and future jobs in sports for women. Title IX is helping women break …show more content…
It has been seen that when women are given the opportunity to play sports they will take it, but Title IX hasn’t only given women the opportunity to play but also the opportunity to challenge stereotypes that men are superior to women in sports. According to National Center for Education Statistics there was a 1000% rise in women who play high school sports from 1971-72 to 2010-11. And boys participation in high school sports has gone up by 134%, this just goes to show that as soon as women were given the chance to play they took it. This growth is translating into college sports for women. Before 1972 scholarships for women were unheard of, but according to a new report by the National Coalition for Women & Girls in Education “In the past 40 years, high school girls' participation in athletics has grown tenfold, and college scholarships for female athletes have gone from virtually nil to 48 percent at Division I schools” (Khadaroo), this is great improvement for women. These scholarships hasn’t only helped women play sports in college but has also allowed women to earn higher educations. Women earn almost 3 times the bachelor's degrees than before title nine, and now earn the same amount of other degrees as men (Khadaroo). Title IX is helping women in many ways not just in sports but sports is the most focused on because of all the