Women have gradually been awarded
rights throughout history, but Title IX is, in my opinion, the most important
of them all. Stating, “No person in the U.S. 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.”
Even though I am not a female
athlete, I would not be the person I am today if I was forbidden to play sports
as a young girl. I have never been good at soccer, basketball, lacrosse, or any
other hand-eye coordinated sports player for that matter. But at least I had
the opportunity to find that out on my own rather than simply being told I
could not even try.
The common misconception is that
Title IX simply grants women the right to play sports, but the Title gave women
the freedom to do so much more than join competitive athletic teams. Women
trying to get a job can no longer be denied on the basis of her sex. Women
applying to college can no longer be denied on the basis of her sex. Women can
no longer be sexually harassed on the basis of her sex. The Title was the key
for women to enter the “man’s world,” and protected them enough to give them
the opportunity to succeed and excel.
The
“pregnancy schools” OD talked about in her presentation were a prime example of
how life would be if Title IX had not been created by strong people like
Bernice Sandler and Birch Bayh. They stood up for women, and because of them we
are afforded the seemingly simple right to continue to attend school even after
childbirth.
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