Full Court Press 5

This is my last entry for Full Court Press....


As a female athlete, Title IX has always been a part of my thoughts. Though intangible and unseen, its talked about and discussed in gyms and classrooms as the single reason women’s sports has flourished in the last 30 years. There are people, men and women, institutions, groups, and events that have propelled women’s athletics forward but the culmination of their efforts can be surmised in a single piece of legislation that we call Title IX. And from that point forward equality in sports finally got the support, the legal backing that it needed to attempt to make reality reflect the idealism of so many people.

I understand how important Title IX is. I know that without it women, or like minded men, would have no legal right to stand up and complain about unequal funding or treatment. Most universities still aren’t legally in compliance with the legislation but the fact is people are beginning to understand that all equality, not just gender, is important for a society as a whole. How can we possibly expect women to grow up believing in themselves and therefore contribute to society if they are given the old practice gym while the men have the new arena, or bus to games when men fly charter planes? A lot can be said without words and women listen, even if they don’t want to, when you tell them they aren’t good enough. Even Plato, in the 4th century B.C., said that a state that does not educate and train women is like a man who only trains his right arm. (And we all know you need to work on your left hand!)

And let’s not kid ourselves, unequal treatment still happens, even with Title IX, and no legislation can force those people who say, “yeah but they don’t dunk,” to really support women’s athletics. I remember playing in high school after the men’s team when the gym would clear out for our game, the fans uninterested in watching “some chicks play”. But, generally we’ve come to a time and a place where women athletes have high expectations, just like the men. That isn’t to say that we aren’t grateful. There are still enough reminders that we have a long way to go to achieve true equality, its just that its difficult to really imagine not having the opportunities I did in athletics. I suppose its a lot like women’s suffrage. While I can’t imagine not having the right to vote, there is still a ways to go as women in politics still aren’t on equal footing as their male counterparts.

I guess my point is that I have been taught to respect the history of women’s athletics, and I do, very much. And I know that without Title IX women would not have as much opportunity in life in general (that’s why the Bush administration needs to leave it alone… but that’s a whole other issue). But I am also accustomed to equal treatment, and that’s a good thing as long as you don’t lose perspective. Iowa State treated us like queens, four star hotels, catered meals, chartered planes. And we played in front of 10,000 fans. Everything just like the men if not better. We didn’t have to sit and watch our male counterparts get better treatment, the administration never told them tacitly that they were more important than us. But that isn’t to say that I haven’t seen glimpses of what is must have been like pre Title IX.

Playing in Greece has given me a good idea of what happens when gender equality isn’t forced on people. My team has been absolutely great to me, I have no complaints on how they have treated me personally. But women’s athletics here just aren’t respected the way they should be. Last year our gym was freezing. I mean so cold I was wondering who was going to pull a muscle first despite the full sweats and hats we had on. By the end of our practice the heaters would turn on full blast so the men’s team wouldn’t be uncomfortable for their practice. While we take 9 hour bus rides, the men fly, we stay in basic hotels while the men stay in resorts, they have a training room with ultrasound machines, we have to ask permission to use it when they aren’t needing it, and we schedule practice according to their needs, the list goes on and on. Women’s athletics really isn’t professional here and it feels like it.

But every society starts somewhere and moves towards gender equality. There are people here making a difference just like there were people that pushed and fought for Title IX. Its interesting for me to really be immersed in a country where women’s sports hasn’t reached the same level of respect that it has in America. I’ve been spoiled, in a good way, to where I have expectations of equal treatment. Hopefully some day soon, women in all countries around the world have those same expectations.