More Than Just a Game

Protecting Title IX and the next generation of female leaders

by Ana Apostoleris Rivera ’13

For women in America, there is always a “before” and an “after.” “Before 1920,” no American women had the right to vote. “Before 1964,” workplace discrimination based on sex was permitted by law. “Before 1973,” a woman’s right to choose was not federally protected — “after 2022,” that right was lost. The “befores” and “afters” shape the world that women live in, the challenges we face, and the women we see in positions of authority and power.

Before 1972, the year Title IX was signed into law, there was no federal statute mandating equal treatment between the sexes in education programming. That meant that colleges and universities were free to discriminate on the basis of sex, and meant that schools could designate certain activities worth investing in for male students, but not for female students. This included a lack of investment in women’s athletics. While the statute covered far more than athletics, it for the first time mandated that schools invest proportionally in programming for men and women, and has thus been the driving cultural and legal force that has led to vast growth for women in sports.

Ana Apostoleris Rivera poses on a staircase and smiles.

laurence kesterson

Protection and enforcement of Title IX is a crucial tool for American girls and women, says Ana Apostoleris Rivera ’13. She is an attorney specializing in education, anti-discrimination, and gender equity.

Before 1972, there were almost no professional women’s sports leagues, and only about 15% of college athletes were women. In the five-plus decades after 1972, the rate of female participation in college athletics has skyrocketed, and now sits at just below 45% of all college athletes. In addition, women’s professional sports is an almost entirely post-1972 phenomenon, which now draws television audiences in the millions. The athletes that these millions tune in to watch mostly came through college programs that in large part did not exist before Title IX.

Not only has Title IX created opportunities for women who personally want to pursue sports in college, it has also been instrumental in creating a cultural role-model class of female athletes that is important for all girls and women, whether they are or have aspirations to be varsity athletes or not. Opportunity growth for women in sports has led to more young girls growing up with the ability to view the body as something more than aesthetic, and strength as a feminine trait. Furthermore, research by the Women’s Sports Foundation shows that young girls’ participation in athletics is positively correlated with formal leadership roles later in life, and that young women who participate in sports report higher levels of resilience, self-confidence, and drive.

As we move into a cultural moment where it appears we can’t take the “afters” for granted, as women’s rights are either being rolled back or threatened, these trends show why it’s vitally important to actively protect women and girls’ access to athletic opportunity. A strengthened role-model class and access to increased tools of leadership are benefits that extend beyond any individual interest in sports. Protection and enforcement of Title IX, as we can see from the growth of the last fifty years, is a crucial tool in ensuring that we do not let the modern era become another “before” for American girls and women.

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