Let’s talk about gyms, locker rooms and bathrooms, shall we? Discrimination follows women into the most intimate spaces of public life. Women like Reps. Patsy Mink and Edith Green, who were forging paths in government and drafting legislation to equalize gender equality, found blockades even here.
Continue reading
When we last left Rep. Patsy Mink (D-HI) and Rep. Edith Green (D-OR), they were confabbing with education consultant Bunny Sadler. Now the Title IX bill needed a champion in the Senate. Birch Bayh (D-IN) raised his hand.
Continue reading
In my last post, I introduced you to Rep. Patsy Mink (D-HI), who teamed up with Rep. Edith Green (D-OR) to author the Title IX legislation ending discrimination in educational settings that receive federal funding. Both women had encountered barriers to the goals they had in life — Mink had wanted to be a doctor and Green a lawyer.
Continue reading
In my last post, I introduced Olympic track and field star Wilma Rudolph. In 1960, when she was reaching the peak of her athletic career, a political star was making her way to Washington, DC, where she would make history with the Title IX legislation.
Continue reading
Although Title IX was envisioned as an antidote to gender barriers in education, its most visible impact was in women’s sports. As I noted in an earlier post, pre-Title IX, most women’s sports were either non-existent or unfunded.
Continue reading
In my last post, you met Rep. Edith Green (D-OR), who introduced the Equal Pay Act in 1955 and saw it through eight years to passage in 1963. That piece of legislation set the stage for more awareness of the unequal status of women in society.
Continue reading
I can’t wait to share all the stories I’ve heard about women whose ambitions are in the field of athletics. Pre-Title IX, those dreams were often crushed. Post-Title IX, women soared. Mostly. In real life, discrimination didn’t end abruptly with the legislation.
Continue reading
In my last post, I mentioned a girl who was invited to play on a boys’ Little League team — but only if she would agree to make herself look like a boy and answer to a boy’s name.
Continue reading
How did today’s talented female athletes rise to the top of their sport? Athletes like soccer’s Megan Rapinoe and Brandi Chastain. Basketball’s Maya Moore and Sue Bird. Gymnastics’ Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas. How did they attain their Olympic dreams and garner praise the world over?
Continue reading
This year has been all about the virus, but even so, I haven’t let it stop me from talking about the suffrage fight. About halfway through the year, a foursome of suffragists joined my payroll — the Suffragette Quartet! Unlike humans, they can pose for the camera without being masked.
Continue reading