In my last post, we followed Title IX through Congress, until the final bill landed on President Richard Nixon’s desk. He signed the Education Amendments of 1972 into law on June 23, 1972.
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Tag Archives: gender equality
Wither Rep. Green?
Title IX actually has another name these days. In 2002, the law was renamed The Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act. And in 2014, forty-two years after Title IX was signed into law, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Rep. Mink the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contributions to gender equality.
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Democracy demands a pair of pants
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.
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Women need not apply
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.
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Never a lesser being
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.
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No triumph without the struggle
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.
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“Mrs. Education” or “The Wicked Witch of the West”?
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.
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What is Title IX anyway?
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.
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Happy 50th to Title IX!
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?
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