Title Ix
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Title IX
In the world of sports there was very little room for women until a federal law called Title IX was enacted in 1972. This law states that “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 education program or activity.” (Zagar). When this law was passed it opened the door for women to participate in sports. Since then much of the gender bias that went on at that time has stopped, it has even gotten to the point where women are trying to play golf on the PGA Tour. Women have their own golf league called the LPGA, which stands for the Ladies Professional Golf Association. This brought many ideas to my head and made me ask myself the question, why do women try to play in the PGA Tour? And even more in depth as to what women are doing this and what their reasons are for attempting to play with the men? It also brings up the question of in what other sports are women competing against men?
Aside from Michelle Wie and Annika Sorenstam playing in PGA tour events, women have made strides in bowling, Indy car racing, and boxing. Despite an overwhelming majority of professional male bowlers, Liz Johnson joined the Professional Bowlers Association and “was a runner-up in three events and became the first woman to win a title, rolling a 244 to beat Michael Fagan for the $40,000 check in the Kingpin Lanes Open.” (Smith). She is the first woman to ever win a bowling title against a man, and probably won’t be the last. Indy car racer Danica Patrick has sparked a huge amount of interest in racing and what many people call “Danica Mania”. Her six top ten finishes in thirteen races this season in the Indy Racing League has brought her many endorsements and an incredible amount of attention, both good and bad. While all she is doing is trying to show that she belongs on the track with all the men, the media attention has generated envy from other drivers, including her own teammates who “have worn T-shirts: “Danica’s teammate” and “Danica’s other teammate.”” (Smith). Even though she has not won any races, she gets more attention from the media than the winners of races, such as Dan Wheldon who is a recent winner of the Indy 500. The envy was never more obvious than when “IRL drivers Wheldon, Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti, and Bryan Herta boycotted an autograph session at Milwaukee because Patrick was given “special treatment” with her own line limited to wristband-wearers for crowd control.” (Smith). These kinds of things are showing that men do not want to give up the spotlight, especially to women. Besides racing and bowling, a woman named Ann Wolfe is trying to compete against men when she hopes to box against a male middleweight this summer.
When you think about female golfers, two names come to mind. Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie. Annika stands out because she has won 59 LPGA Tour events and currently dominates women’s golf. It is to the point where you expect her to win every tournament she enters. Michelle Wie, on the other hand, is just a teenager and has not even won an LPGA Tour event. What sets her apart from other female golfers is the expectations that everyone has for her, people are looking for her to be the Tiger Woods of her sport and dominate in the coming years, much like Sorenstam is doing now. Although they are both known by many people, the majority of the attention they receive is because they have both competed in PGA Tour events against men. Sorenstam did it in 2003 when she competed in the Colonial. Michelle Wie did it this year when she played in the John Deere Classic. Wie also made history by being the first female golfer ever to qualify for the United States Golf Association’s men’s amateur championship. Strides by Wie and Sorenstam bring many questions to the surface of the U.S.G.A., which is already aware of its gender-biased image. These are not the only women affected by the bias of golf clubs, “Catalyst, a womens research company, surveyed 705 women in Fortune 1000 companies and discovered 41 percent believed their careers were inhibited by exclusion from informal networks. Most mentioned? Golf clubs, not strip clubs.” (Roberts). Stats like these bring to light the areas of sports that Title IX did not affect. While many people do not like the idea of women playing in PGA Tour events, both the LPGA and PGA need something big like this to happen. The LPGA is struggling with terrible TV ratings and sponsorships, while the PGA is in a downward spiral as well. “The Tiger Effect has faded. Over the last two years, a reported 200,000 golfers have quit the sport, and, as the National Golf Foundation has revealed, 63 courses have folded.” (Roberts). These statistics show that the sport of golf is in trouble, and many people believe that for it to be revived there needs to be a change. Many believe that the change could be a woman such as Michelle Wie winning a PGA Tour event, or at least making it past the first cut.
One of the reasons that women attempt to play in the PGA Tour is because that is where the majority of money can be made. In general male athletes make much more money than female athletes. Although there is a gap between prize money, much of the extra income for male athletes is from endorsement deals and very good marketing strategies. For example, “The male who wins this year’s Wimbledon championship will be awarded about $1.5 million. The women’s champion, however, will take home $1.4 million.” (Zwar). The fact is that as long as male athletes are jumping higher, running faster, or doing anything better than girls, they will continue to be awarded more prize money. This summer female boxer Ann Wolfe plans to fight against a male middleweight boxer. Her reasoning in doing this is not for attention or personal satisfaction; she is doing it for the money. By fighting a male boxer, she is making 20 times the amount she can make by fighting another female boxer. In her words, “I sold my soul to boxing and I don’t make any money.” (Roberts). For women to make more money in sports they must be more competitive, or else try playing with the men.
Another reason that women attempt to play in male dominated sports such as golf and racing is because that is where all the media’s attention goes. People can argue that Annika Sorenstam is better than Tiger Woods. She has won 59 tournaments and completely dominates