Title IX Women's History Month Q&A

Photo via Georgetown

PATRICK MCFARLAND: As March Women's History Month Concludes, I spoke with Bonnie Monnie Morris, a Title IX scholar, women's historian at the University of California at Berkeley, and National Women's History Museum adviser regarding Title IX. A Federal law barring federally funded education programs and activities from discriminating based on sex was signed 52 years ago. We discussed the law's original purpose, how it differs from its modern perception, and how this contrast has impacted women over the past half-century.  

Patrick McFarland: Title IX originally had nothing to do with sports. Is that correct?

Bonnie Morris: Correct. It was intended as an education reform because a number of women faculty had been denied promotions and tenure on the grounds that they came on too strong or were not feminine enough. They also were interested in complaints and class action suits at the high school level. Girls were not admitted to many schools as late as 1972. Ivy League colleges had a quota system, where for every three men admitted two women were admitted. So, the originators, including Bernie Sandler, conceived of adapting the Civil Rights Act to include language that banned sex discrimination as part of a contingency for receiving federal funding.

Patrick McFarland: How do you think the perception of the law versus how it was originally written has affected the progress women have made?

Bonnie Morris: Today, it's seen as more of a compliance office you go to with a sexual assault, harassment, or stalking complaint because it's become far more public facing. That emerged in part because students were complaining, ‘I may have equal rights on a campus, but I'm afraid to walk to campus,’ or ‘I can enroll in any class I want, but that doesn't prevent a professor from touching me and how do I deal with that?’ That said, back in the day, Title IX began to be misinterpreted as something that was going to take money away from football. It’s true. There isn't a sport equivalent to football that women do in numbers that are as large or that bring in as much money. The argument was that football brings in the most money, so it should get the most money. If women brought in money, they would get money. That business model has become much more popular recently in terms of what gets funded on campus. A lot of sports were cut, of course those guys rose up very frustrated, and said Title IX was reverse discrimination.

Patrick McFarland: How do you better educate people?

Bonnie Morris: I think everybody should get a half-hour intro to constitutional law. We actually don't have an amendment that says, women have equal rights. We tried and failed. The closest thing we have is Title IX. which ends when you graduate.

Patrick McFarland: What do you say to guys who feel that Title IX is reverse discrimination and who feel they have been affected negatively by Title IX?

Bonnie Morris: Most guys are going to be dads. We now have two generations of fierce dads fighting for their daughters. Look at the effort recently by the U.S. women's soccer team. It's easy to see you can be the best in the world and you're still paid less. I think most guys see them as unjust.

Patrick McFarland: What role in the future do you think Title IX will have on Trans athletes?

Bonnie Morris: That's a hard one for me to answer. A lot of people don't know there's already quite a few Olympic events that are mixed, like sailing and equestrian. It's a non-issue. I think there's a huge difference between the six-year-old boy who wants to jump rope or identifies with girls on the playground versus someone like Caitlyn Jenner, who has a whole career being a man and then later, after retiring from Decathlon, changes versus someone like Lea Thomas, who compete on the men's team and then the women the next year. I think those are three different scenarios.

Patrick McFarland: Do you think it’s segregation to have trans athletes in separate sports?

Bonnie Morris: I don't know. I think it's unhealthy to say to a child, ‘you can't play’. I think the whole culture is changing. Female athletes can break a record set by a man two generations ago easily because we have better sneakers, better training, better food, instant replay. We have all the things that people didn't have before. So the question is, what do we do if we assume the endpoint of a naturally high-achieving woman? 

Patrick McFarland: We talked about a lot of things that can be improved, what are the successes of Title IX?

Bonnie Morris: Surveys coming out of the Women's Sports Foundation and elsewhere say there's been a 5,000% increase in participation by women and girls. Starting in 1996, you had more women bringing home gold at the Olympics. Colleges now have 60% female enrollment. So, when the door is open, women will pour through it and do really well. I think the real question is, do we claim those successes or start worrying that guys are falling behind?   

Title IX still looms large for people of all genders, especially on university campuses. However, after my conversation with Bonnie, this is more of a perception than a reality. While the concern that boys are falling behind is legitimate, women do not need to suffer to help men catch back up. The answer to these problems is more regulation or legal implementation outside the law. As many conservative pundits point out, it's time for men to take responsibility for our lives and adapt to what is needed to succeed in the modern world. I realize this is easier said than done sometimes, and we should not hold women back for men to catch up.  

Patrick McFarland is a Masters student at Georgetown studying Communication and Journalism. He writes for other on-campus publication organizations such as The Voice.