Since Title IX was instituted there hasn't been any sort of update to the original purpose behind the amendment.
In 1972, an equal opportunity law was implemented in public education that stated: "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 educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." The author of the amendment, Sen. Birch Bayh of Indiana, stated that the time has come to get past the stereotypical notions about women.
"Give them their equal right to attend schools of their choice, to develop the skills they want, and to apply those skills with the knowledge that they have a fair chance to secure the jobs of their choice with equal pay for equal work," he said.
On June 23, 1972, was when President Richard Nixon signed the bill. The wording of the amendment is very brief and Nixon directed the Department of Health, Education and Welfare to carry it out. Sen. Bayh kept his eye on the bill as it moved into interscholastic and collegiate athletics, and by 1975 he was pleased with how women and girls were getting their equal opportunity to play sports. As female athletics began to grow, opportunities followed. Many division I schools, because of the amendment, had to develop comparative sports programs, by giving out athletic scholarships and, or grant-in-aid for financial assistance for qualified women to play at the intercollegiate levels in athletics. Collegiate leagues across the country were paralleling their schedules with the addition of women's leagues. At the interscholastic level, there was a similar move of creating girls teams and leagues, as Title IX began to grow and become part of the interscholastic sports programs, girls began to develop their talents as athletes, and to this day it has been very successful.
In professional sports there are areas that might need to be addressed. One in particular: Salaries of the athletes. Here are some interesting examples. The NBA's average salary is $4.5 million, compared to the WNBA, where the average salary is $72,000. The NBA's top wage earner in 2014 was Kobe Bryant, at $23.5 million and in the women's pro league the maximum wage from 2013 was $107,000.
In professional golf, the men averaged $973,000 in 2014, while the LPGA's average salary is $162,000. Also in 2014, Rory Mcllroy was top PGA wage earner at nearly $7 million, and for the ladies, Stacy Lewis brought home about $2 million. Here's a real discrepancy, Major League Soccer, where the average salary is $207,831 and the National Women's Soccer League is a shocking $15,000. Michael Bradley was the 2014 top wage earner for MLS at $6 million and in the NWSL the max salary in 2014 was a mere $30,000. While talking soccer, David Beckham's net worth is $350 million while Mia Hamm, famous American female retired soccer star at 43, has a net worth of $10 million.
Professional tennis may have a little different story, as Serena Williams has an estimated net worth of more than $130 million dollars, which also includes endorsements. With the men, Roger Federer, who has career earnings of approximately $81, and $300 million with endorsements.
A note of interest: Of all the college athletes only 2 percent make it to the professional ranks.
In professional sports gender inequality seems to have some significance differences. Why is that so? I think that there is still a stigma of gender inequality viewed by the fans and the national sports media. It seems that the sponsors lean more toward the male athlete than they do the female. Endorsements from Nike, Adidas, Reebok and so forth, seem to be male-dominated in their sponsorships. Just watch the TV ads for athletic apparel -- they are generally dominated by male athletes.
There are certain aspects of some sports common to both genders that have different rules for the women than men. For instance, in tennis why do women only play the best-of-three sets, while the men play the best-of-five? In track and field, the men run the 1600m run (mile), the women run the 1500? Also with track, the men run 110m high hurdles, the women run the 100m intermediate hurdles. As a track coach, I could never figure out what was so difficult about a few extra meters. Why is it that women run the 3000m run and guys the 3200m (two miles)? I can't begin to tell you how many times my female runners asked me the reason for the difference. I have no answer.
In high school and college basketball both genders have shot clocks. The boys are at 35 seconds and the girls are 30 seconds. Darn if I can figure how an extra 5 seconds, or 5 seconds less can really make a big significance in the outcome of a game.
But in defense of gender-related athletics, the ladies have come a long way. Ever since they changed girls' basketball to mirror the boys' game, it has changed the type of player the girls have become. Many of these WNBA players can out shoot some of these NBA guys. If you don't believe me, just watch and compare.
To be fair, there have been many great achievements from the growing of female athletics since instituting the Title IX Amendment. It has been researched that because of the amendment there are more young people involved in sports than ever before. For example in 2014, there were 21 million children ages 6 to 17 who play a sport on a regular basis. About 7.8 million are of high school age. Locally there are some high schools that have more girls involved in sports than boys. Title lX might need a little tweaking but it has been a great addition to athletics across the United States.
Maybe with more media coverage, especially in the sport of women's basketball, the possibility of better salaries might be in the near future for the women. I think that the WNBA needs to look at changing the timing of its season, from springs/summer to the indoor sport of winter. I enjoy watching the women play the game and I also feel that they're going to get better as time moves forward.
It's time to see more female pro athletes get more recognition with endorsements and increased pay, Nike and other athletic apparel companies need to showcase the ladies, as they do the men. They have truly earned it.
