Men's Complaints
Though women were enthralled, men were angered. Men found it unfair that their sports budgets were being cut so women could get equal funds. Even today, boys coaches complain about loss of teams and funding.
It was not a financial issue, it was a Title IX issue," said former head wrestling coach Jim Schmitz. "The wrestling budget was sacrificed to add a women's sport, and then the team itself was sacrificed to keep everything even-Steven. I can see why the Office of Civil Rights wants to protect women's opportunities, but the way they're doing it is obviously harmful to men's opportunities."
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Patsy T. Mink: Pain, Passion, Power, and Title IX, Youtube, 18 Aug. 2013
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"The decisions to discontinue specific sports are made at the institutional level for a variety of reasons. If the decision is made to eliminate sports for gender-equity reasons, it is because institutions have chosen this path, not because Title IX dictates such action." Judith Sweet, NCAA vice-president for championships. |
The men weren't willing to share athletics money evenly. They decided on the proportionality system, because at the time 60% of college athletes were men. "The men wanted to legislate a permanent advantage," Lopiano said. "Well, they hurt themselves. There are a lot more women attending college now than men. And now, it's kind of like, 'Well, you set the rules, and now you want to change them again?' "
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"Title IX is not about percentages and numbers. Title IX is about halting practices of discrimination. It's not a quota bill." Norma Cantu
Aftermath
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Thanks to Mink and Title IX, girls can grow up enjoying sports. They get equal access as men, and it's one step closer to equality for all. The fight for women's rights is not over. Even though there has been significant change in the past 43 years for women's sports, so much more can be done. |
“We shall someday be heeded, and...everybody will think it was always so, just exactly as many young people think that all the privileges, all the freedom, all the enjoyments which women now possesses always were hers. They have no idea of how every single inch of ground that she stands upon today has been gained by the hard work of some little handful of women in the past.” Susan B. Anthony