Title IX A Losing Game For Men

National Review Online: Men’s Sports Teams Suffer Under Sexist Legal Demands

(National Review Online)  This column was written by Carrie Lukas.

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Some sports fans descending on Cleveland this week have more than basketball on their minds. It's the 35th anniversary of Title IX, and activists are gathering to celebrate the anti-discrimination law with a three-day femi-palooza of seminars and dinners. Sunday's NCAA women's basketball "Final Four" will make a good backdrop: Crowds can applaud women's increasing athletic participation while appreciating female basketball prowess.

Yet the unavoidable reality is that the men's NCAA basketball tournament continues to overshadow the women's. Last year, the women's tournament earned television ratings fifteen percent higher than in 2005, but it still drew only a quarter of the audience of the men's games. Ubiquitous office pools and bars crowded with sports fans remain overwhelmingly a male-tournament phenomenon.

Why do basketball fans prefer watching the men? Title IX conference-goers may believe this demonstrates society's engrained sexism. Most others will find more benign explanations; namely, that the men's game is more fast-paced, dramatic, and thus appealing to a television audience. Or that men comprise the bulk of the viewing audience for sports, and may prefer watching male athletes. Yet this preference doesn't apply to all sports; women's gymnastics, women's figure skating, and women's tennis often draw greater audiences than their male counterparts.

Evidence of men's greater interest in watching and playing sports abounds. Recreational sports leagues open to all comers remain overwhelmingly male. Studies repeatedly have found that men watch, read, and talk more about sports than do women — five minutes in any sports bar would have yielded the same conclusion for the price of a beer.

Such common sense will be heresy, however, at the Cleveland conference. Many members of the organizations sponsoring the conference recoil from any suggestion that innate differences between the sexes contribute to disparate outcomes, whether on a basketball court or in the workplace. "Discrimination" is the only acceptable explanation when men out-participate or out-perform women, while women's triumphs ironically are ignored.

It's hard to imagine, for example, the gender-obsessed handwringers pondering why women outnumber men in so much of academia during their conference breakout session "Title IX: It's Not Just for Athletics." Speakers from "The Association for Gender Equity Leadership in Education" and "The National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity" will surely discuss achievement in the hard sciences (where men still outnumber women), but psychology and education (in which women earn about eight of ten bachelor's degrees) undoubtedly will be overlooked. Few will lament the inherent "inequity" in women constituting 58 percent of college graduates.

Indeed, athletics is one of the few areas of schooling where men predominate. A survey of high school seniors found girls were more likely to participate in music and performing-arts activities, academic clubs, student council or government, and the newspaper or yearbook. The only extracurricular activity where boys out-participated girls was athletics.

Title IX enforcers seek to change this, but not just by encouraging more female participation in sports, which most everyone sees as laudable. Far from merely barring discrimination, activist administrators have interpreted Title IX as demanding equal outcomes. Colleges and universities must demonstrate "participation opportunities for male and female students are provided in numbers substantially proportionate to their respective enrollments." Not surprisingly, schools eager to avoid costly lawsuits often make the numbers add up by reducing sports opportunities for men.

Stories of teams sacrificed to Title IX, such as James Madison University's eliminating seven male sports-teams last fall, occasionally make headlines. Yet a new analysis of NCAA data from the College Sports Council reveals the law’s disturbing impact on male athletics. In brief, the average number of male teams offered by an NCAA Division I institution fell from 10.2 in 1981-82 to 8.9 in 2004-2005 (a decrease of 14 percent) while the average number of women’s teams rose from 7.3 to 10.2 (an increase of 40 percent).

Some male sports are going extinct. The number of Division 1 men’s gymnastics teams shrunk from 59 to 17 between 1981 and 2004; wrestling teams declined from 146 to 86; and even the number of Division 1A football teams — the villains in the eyes of Title IX's most active proponents — fell from 137 to 117. This isn't good for sports, and it's not good for women.

Title IX was sold as a way to ensure everyone has the opportunity to live up to his or her potential, not as a means to decimate male athletics. It’s time to reform Title IX and its enforcement so that male and female sports can both thrive.

[bluestardad]

Women Register for the Draft then speak of Equal Rights! Quit enjoying the sacrifice of others without paying the bill yourselves.


It is important to notice that almost half of the eligible people in the United States are not required to register for compulsory National Service because of an Unconstitutional Gender preference.

This inequity is in direct contravention to the strides toward total gender equality within the Nations Education System with such programs as Title 9 that guarantees equity between genders in sports, and the reduction of programs of gender discrimination within the work force.

To ensure that all Americans earn their place within society there should be no preference or exclusion deferments from National Service Registration or Compulsory Service based on Race, Religion, Gender, Education, or Financial Status. Discrimination in the United States of America stands against the very foundation of the Constitution of this great nation.


Saturday, May 1, 2004
Selective Service eyes women's draft
The proposal would also require registration of critical skills
By ERIC ROSENBERG
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- The chief of the Selective Service System has proposed registering women for the military draft and requiring that young Americans regularly inform the government about whether they have training in niche specialties needed in the armed services.

[mcvet]

Yet the unavoidable reality is that the men's NCAA basketball tournament continues to overshadow the women's. Last year, the women's tournament earned television ratings fifteen percent higher than in 2005, but it still drew only a quarter of the audience of the men's games. Ubiquitous office pools and bars crowded with sports fans remain overwhelmingly a male-tournament phenomenon.

Typical Fascist Rag. It's always about MONEY to these losers. They could care LESS about the goal of educating our Students in Sports. They could care less about the goal of Sports in Schools, which is for those students to compete against OTHER schools, both MEN and Women. No it's about POWER and MONEY to these fascist. They have NEVER stood for Civil Rights, be it when Women were shut out of sports or Blacks were being lynched. Both hurt their collective Pocket's. Sieg Heil America

[fairandbal]

Wow, the conservative racists are coming out the woodwork this week. first it was Newt and his hatred toward bilingual education and now it's NRO saying that helping women in education environments is bad.

Can these guys make it more clear how much american conservatism has become so far out of the mainstream?

[ebonmuse]

Lukas apparently didn't notice how she's contradicted herself: first she says that women's gymnastics is more popular than men's gymnastics, then she complains that men's gymnastics teams are disappearing and blames this on Title IX. Has it not occurred to her that they might be disappearing *because* women's gymnastics are more popular? It's called free-market competition. I thought conservatives were in favor of that.

[buckeyehoppy]

Ms. Lukas article is spot-on in relation to the decimation of men's athletics by university administrators enforcing their own myopic view of Title IX.

Great sports like wrestling have been cut in half in the last 20 years and the future doesn't portend good things for this sport and even fewer good things for the almost non-existent sport of gymnastics for men.

The reality is that at most Division I universities, the men's programs in football and basketball pay the freight for the entire athletic program. These sports are also responsible for the bulk of corporate sponsorship that these universities receive.

If it wasn't for these programs women wouldn't be getting the opportunities in athletics that they enjoy now. Money is the straw that stirs the drink and that money comes from men's football and men's basketball and there is nothing sexist about that fact. Life stinks when faced with the reality of the bottom line.

The solution is simple to any athletic program that is strapped for cash (which is most of them, incidentally). The programs that can demonstrate that they can generate a certain percentage of self-sufficiency to the athletic budget should be exempt from Title IX, since these are the programs that make it possible for most universities to fund women's athletics without losing their shirts.

That solution may be the only way to save the men's programs that are quickly going the way of the dinosaur.

[oleander8]

"Women Register for the Draft then speak of Equal Rights! Quit enjoying the sacrifice of others without paying the bill yourselves." [Bluestardad}

Doesn't work that way, Blue...give women Equal Rights and then speak of women registering for the draft. You don't get to pick and choose which rights should be equal.

[bluestardad]

oleander8; WRONG AGAIN VICTIM!

Quit enjoying the sacrifice of others without paying the bill yourselves LETTING MEN DIE FOR YOUR RIGHTS THEN NOT CHIPPING IN! DONT WORK THAT WAY ANYMORE GIRLFRIEND! Just because you guys can flat back it for Congressmen and get preferencial bills passed soon it wont work! Honorable women dont want your hand out! You are going to have to be equal responsible parties in your countries defense! Enjoy! I will even pay the Retainer to get the Law Suit Started for Discrimination!

[p-syrus]

Athletics serve no useful function in an academic facility distorting the role of educational institutions in society. Rather than whine about Title IX go play soccer at the local community park.

[fizzal-2009]

Some say this title Ix is a ploy too get more tax,s from the people for another track and field too play on, why don,t they go buy the escalater at the mall and lay that down and run on that. Just change the picture on the wall for the different seasons sports.

[comfortmd1]

what feminists do not want to realize is that women and men are different. there is no real comparing of them, and forcing them to compete together, whether in sports, military, or life itself is discriminatory. women are more emotional and vengeful. so there are fewer women executives. that makes women great managers though (since they can connect with people better), where there are close to 80% of women in middle to low management positions. men like and perform sports better (mostly) so there is more demand for male sports. and women usually do not like to go outside and camp. so the boy scouts have greater attendance, while boys like to get grubby and dirty (as the majority, not the rule.

forcing your will on someone is not democracy, it is a dictatorship. allowing this behavior to taint the united states is not civilization, it is childishness. whatever the opinion may be about my statements, there is no denying the factual accuracy of the details.

[tucano2]

Speaking from the viewpoint of a father with 4 boys and 5 girls and all 9 of them quote jocks unquote I must support Title Nine as one of the greatest boons to men as well as women in sports as well as to the Dads that but for athletic scholarships would have had to pay full retail for 9 university educations.

[bluestardad]

EQUAL RIGHTS CANNOT BE GIVEN THEY MUST BE EARNED!
Women Register for the Draft then speak of Equal Rights! Quit enjoying the sacrifice of others without paying the bill yourselves.


It is important to notice that almost half of the eligible people in the United States are not required to register for compulsory National Service because of an Unconstitutional Gender preference.

This inequity is in direct contravention to the strides toward total gender equality within the Nations Education System with such programs as Title 9 that guarantees equity between genders in sports, and the reduction of programs of gender discrimination within the work force.

To ensure that all Americans earn their place within society there should be no preference or exclusion deferments from National Service Registration or Compulsory Service based on Race, Religion, Gender, Education, or Financial Status. Discrimination in the United States of America stands against the very foundation of the Constitution of this great nation.


Saturday, May 1, 2004
Selective Service eyes women's draft
The proposal would also require registration of critical skills
By ERIC ROSENBERG
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- The chief of the Selective Service System has proposed registering women for the military draft and requiring that young Americans regularly inform the government about whether they have training in niche specialties needed in the armed services.

[fairandbal]

The first group who needs to register for any draft are of age children of politicians who vote for any war.
It's way past time that politicians talk a tough talk about war and either dodged it themselves (i.e. Bush and Cheney) or say that other people must sacrifice their children for a lie.

[eggy1620]

The best way to ensure the intended outcome of Title IX is to not give female students the choice of whether to participate. Make female athletic participation cumpulsory with college enrollment. That will certainly produce the desired results.