Women In Sports Essay

Women in sports is relatively a new thing in the U.S. Until 1972, discrimination in sports on the basis of sex was very prevalent. Title IX established fairness in regards to sex discrimination for women in federally funded schools and programs. I had the ability to interview a woman who lived and went to school during this era. My family member attended South High School in Columbus Ohio. She graduated in a class of over 300. During the late 60 's, early 70 's the school had an established sports program. Being a relatively large school there were a wealth of athletic talent available as well as support for multiple programs. I had asked her about the programs available. She told “South had large football and basketball programs.” I then asked if there was a basketball program for women. She said that they didn 't have a

She was no different and had no ambition to compete. Given the lack of opportunity and an accepted social standard of the time, women didn 't participate in sports. They merely supported sports in other capacities such as cheerleaders, majorettes and concessionaires. Since South High didn 't have a women 's sports program at the time, she didn 't feel there was a negative perception of women in sports. It was not an issue during her time in school. Unfortunately equal rights for women were still in its infancy, therefore, women were not on an equal footing with men 's opportunity, ability or accomplishments. My family member chose not to play sports. She had grown up in a large family with strict values. Later in high school, her brother and her were left in Ohio while her parents traveled to and from West Virginia for weeks at a time. This was her first taste of freedom. It lead to a less than stellar attendance record which would have precluded her from participating in sports, let alone her disinterest in