Title IX celebrated its 50th anniversary last month.
The civil rights law passed as part of the Education Amendments of 1972 meant to prohibit sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program receiving federal financial assistance.
It was a landmark passage, one that fueled the future and continued growth and success of women’s sports.
Yet despite all of the good the law has done, it’s clear just how much work remains to be done.
We have seen the ongoing fight by women for better pay in sports over the last fifty years, with a few victories such as the recent win by USWNT in March 2022 for better pay and adequate resources such as flights and training conditions.
But the gender pay gap remains real.
It’s one of the primary reasons why WNBA players, including the still-wrongfully detained Brittney Griner, are forced to play overseas in order to supplement their income during the off-season.
Income which they should rightfully be afforded in the U.S.
Modern sport remains shrouded in an imperialist, white-supremacist, racist, sexist, classist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynoir-istic system to this day. While we have seen an increase in women’s and girls’ participation in sports since Title IX’s passage, as well as the introduction of new events to the Olympic stage (e.g., women’s water polo in 2000), media coverage of women’s and men’s sports remains heavily unbalanced in favor of men.
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