Title IX

Playing sports was a never a question in my life, it was just something I did. Maybe I was simply following in the footsteps of my big sister or maybe being active was just a fact of life the way my mother raised us. Either way, from fifth grade until my high school graduation, nearly every day ended with a two hour practice or a game.

It was a grueling schedule (or so I thought then – until I learned about all-nighters in college) that I reveled in, immersing myself in school and sports. Waking up sore was glorious. My teammates and I would commiserate over how we couldn’t even sit gently anywhere including the toilet, but rather had to let ourselves drop onto the seat our thighs were so tired and weak from conditioning. With field hockey, soccer, and basketball, I never had any breaks, and that was how I liked it.

I was rarely called MVP, but I was always one of the fastest, most aggressive players even if I didn’t score the points. By my senior year I captained every team I was on and nearly had a six pack. Blistered feet were the norm and bruised knees were so commonplace they might as well have been my signature look. Being an athlete is a lifestyle; you have to live it in order to understand why athletes are so passionate about what they do and why they love it. Read more »

I was born almost 16 years to the day after Title IX was passed. So this week, as both the law and I celebrate birthdays, I’ve been thinking about what Title IX means to me as a young woman very fortunate to have grown up in a Title IX world.

At first, I started thinking about my mother who graduated college in 1972, the year Title IX was enacted. How would my mother’s high school and college experiences have been different had the law been in place? Would she have played basketball instead of being a majorette? When the University of Pennsylvania mistakenly sent her a male dormitory form, would my grandmother have been afraid her acceptance would be rescinded when she called to ask for a female dormitory form? Would my mother, who graduated at the top of her high school class, still have been tracked out of physics and advanced math? No, probably not.

And then I thought, as much as Title IX has done for women and girls in my lifetime – I played youth soccer (terribly), I studied advanced math and science in high school, I have plenty of female friends studying or working in STEM fields – the stereotypes that make Title IX so important are still alive and well.

That brings me back to my first day of geometry when my male teacher told us that the girls might have a harder time with the material since studies showed that men were better spatial thinkers than women. Read more »

After-rape is to be consumed by emptiness, isolation, fear, shame, and anger.

And after-rape at college is to be confronted by my rapist every day—on the quad, in the library, at breakfast. It is to be ceaselessly reminded of the moments in which power and control were stripped from me, in which I had no option but to let go and resign myself to the fact that this was really happening.

I was raped my sophomore year of college by a male student at my school. In the weeks after the assault, he followed me around campus, physically blocked me from going up the steps into my dorm, and threatened my friends. One Friday at three in the morning, he tried to break into my room while I sat terrified inside.

The rape and harassment changed everything for me. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I stopped studying. School was no longer on my radar screen. I was just trying to make it from one day to the next. I considered dropping out.

I found out about Title IX by chance, through a lawyer friend. She told me, “Title IX is not just about sports. It says your college can’t make you leave school because you were raped and feel unsafe. They’re supposed to make sure the campus is not a sexually hostile environment.” Read more »

That's me in the white

I don’t have one of those poignant stories that describes how athletics saved my life or became my ticket to college (though they exist). However, the lack of uniqueness in my experience is the strength of my narrative—these days, it is the story of millions of American women. I was just a normal girl who became empowered by athletics.

I have been an athlete for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I played every sport I could—soccer, swimming, tennis and volleyball. I even played on an all-boys soccer team for a few years. It never crossed my mind that my gender would hold me back from becoming a deeply competitive athlete.

When I was selected for my high school’s varsity volleyball team as a freshman, I knew it was time to focus on one sport. From that point on, I poured myself into volleyball. The hard work paid off. I broke many high school records and was quickly recruited by colleges.

Four years later, I started on my college team. Between 40 hours a week of practice and starting college, my first semester was a bit rocky. But, it was a sink or swim situation, and I eventually learned how to manage my time and love being busy. For the final two years of my volleyball career, I was elected team captain.

It’s been almost four years since I played my last collegiate volleyball game, but I still feel the effects of that experience in my everyday life. Read more »

Me

Everyone talks about Title IX’s influence in the world of sports, which certainly isn’t surprising - the law was a landmark in the field of athletics. It ensured that young women and girls had the opportunity to get out there on a field, train, play on high school or college teams, and even become professional athletes.

Title IX is about more than the playing field. Title IX molded my education and opened dozens of doors for me (even though I officially swore off sports after I walked straight into a basketball pole, gave myself a concussion during a Little League game and then opted for the theater club instead).

I was able to go to school every day knowing that bullying and harassment based on my gender was illegal. I could consider which college I wanted to attend without fear that my gender would impede my goals or studies. While I never got into mathematics or the sciences, I had loads of female friends who joined advanced math or science research classes and were never made to feel strange for loving those subjects. If I had become pregnant, I would have known that the law was on my side to help me earn my high school degree. I went to a great university (go AU Eagles!), joined clubs, shared dorm space with interesting people from all over the country and the world – male and female - and took classes that interested me. I never thought twice about whether or not being a girl would have an effect on my education or my career – all thanks to Title IX.

The chances and opportunities given to young women all over the country by Title IX are just a few of the many reasons to celebrate the 40th anniversary of this important law. But during our blog carnival, let’s have a conversation over by the Cracker Jacks about the progress yet to be made. Read more »

Growing up in a post Title IX era, I did not think about discrimination on the basis of my gender in school. I played sports when and where I wanted to and participated in many accelerated courses in high school. As a humanities major and now a law student, I’ve mostly been in courses where women were equally represented, if not the majority of students.

The same is not true for my sister, Jessica, who is a nuclear engineer. In her time at Berkeley she was often the only woman in her classes and continues to be one of few women in her field. I asked her to about her thoughts on what Title IX and equality in STEM education means to her. Here’s what she told me:

“I have always been interested in how things work. I realized at an early age that math and science were my strong suits, so in high school I opted for advanced courses in these disciplines rather than in the humanities. When I was applying to college choosing a major was easy: I was going to be an engineer. Not only did I embody the characteristics that make a good engineering student, it was fun. Up until this point I was aware that people considered boys to be more interested, or even better, in math and science, but this was not apparent during my educational experiences.

Once I enrolled in Berkeley the dichotomy was obvious.

Do your elected officials support pregnant and parenting students in school?

Send a copy of our groundbreaking report to your elected officials today.

Have you ever seen MTV's show "16 and Pregnant?" It tells the stories of girls trying to graduate from high school while juggling the responsibilities of parenthood. Their struggles aren't glamorous or pretty — they're real and heartbreaking. While some of the girls stay in school and graduate, many drop out. It shouldn't have to be that way.

It may seem crazy, but Title IX — the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education — was enacted 40 years ago this month, yet schools still bar pregnant and parenting students from activities, discourage them from staying in school, push them into alternative programs and penalize them for pregnancy-related absences. All of that violates Title IX and increases the risk that students will drop out.

Today, the National Women's Law Center is releasing a new report: A Pregnancy Test for Schools: The Impact of Education Laws on Pregnant and Parenting Students. This report ranks your state and shows how the vast majority of state education laws and policies fail to adequately support these students.

Send a copy of our groundbreaking report to your elected officials today. They need to know where your state stands and what pregnant and parenting students need to succeed. Read more »

Welcome to another roundup! This week we have stories about gender-based wage discrimination for physicians, one popular website’s efforts to transform the male-dominated engineering field, and a 1963 PSA depicting Batgirl battling unequal pay…which is awesome.

The 49th Anniversary of the passage of the Equal Pay Act (EPA) 1963 has led to the internet re-circulation of this 1963 PSA promoting the EPA. The clip features Batgirl coming to the rescue of Batman and Robin. Before saving them, Batgirl takes the opportunity to voice her concern for gender-based wage discrimination: “I've worked for you a long time, and I'm paid less than Robin! Same job, same employer means equal pay for men and women!”

Unfortunately, Batgirl would be disappointed that 49 years after the EPA, American women are still a far cry from achieving equal pay for equal work. The wage gap has narrowed (in 1963, women earned 59 cents to every dollar earned by a man. Today, women earn 77 cents to a man’s dollar) but the 18 cent shift over 49 years just isn’t enough.Batgirl would also be up to her Bat Utility Belt in  outrage to know that on June 5, the U.S. Senate failed to move forward the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA), a bill intended to update the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Learn more about how the PFA would strengthen the EPA. Read more »

"Come to the blacktop at my middle school and hang out for a couple of hours. You'll get a sense of what 12-to-14-year olds like and how they act. For them this is the center of the world."

Middle school teacher Sarah Egan takes us on her three year journey when she agrees to coach the girls' basketball team. Most of the players had never picked up a basketball and early on, she considered it a success if they ran in the right direction. Her team lost every game in the first two seasons.

But despite these odds, they transform into a championship team. More importantly, as they support each other as a group, their spirits soar and they gain confidence both on the court and in the classroom.

Sarah's is just one of nine stories at the heart of NWLC's new online portal, FACES OF TITLE IX. These stories go beyond the statistics to show how the law has helped people — whether it's a student facing bullying in school, a young woman pressured to leave school after becoming pregnant or a race official literally standing in a young woman's way. Read more »

Are you ready? The 40th anniversary of Title IX is coming up fast, and we hope you’ll join us in commemorating the occasion! Forty years of breaking down barriers for women and girls is a spectacular achievement, and we want to mark this milestone and launch Title IX forward into its next 40 years and beyond. But we need your help!

Please join NWLC on Thursday, June 21 for a blog carnival to honor 40 years of Title IX! Whether you want to blog about the intricacies of the law or talk about a personal experience relating to it, we want to hear your story.

HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO: Participating in our blog carnival is easy! All you need to do is write a blog post (or more than one, if you’re so inclined!) reflecting on the importance of Title IX and let us know about it. Need some ideas to get your started writing? Maybe you could:

• Share a story about you, your daughter, your niece, your cousin, or any girl you know who’s benefitted from Title IX in the classroom or on the playing field!
• Did your mother, grandmother, aunt, or a family friend have trouble finding equal opportunity in her school before Title IX? Interview her and share her story – or if you went through any of these struggles, share your own story.
• Or, blog about what advancements you hope will come in the future thanks to Title IX.

And remember: Title IX is about more than sports. Do you have a story about the science and technology fields, about school bullying and harassment, or about pregnant and/or parenting students? Title IX reaches all those issues – and we want to hear those stories, too! Read more »