Ladies, start your engines
June 23, 1972. Two years and two months before President Richard Nixon resigned over the Watergate scandal, eight years before the “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic hockey game, and exactly 17 years before this author was born.
That day marked one of the most transformational laws in our country’s history. Women were discriminated against in many areas and spent a majority of the 20th century trying to achieve the same standards that applied to men.
Title IX, a law passed in 1972, requires gender equity for boys and girls in every educational program that receives federal funding. It does not explicitly pertain to sports; however, part of its legacy to this day regards its success in the advancement of women in high school and collegiate athletics.
Indy Car driver Sarah Fisher is a woman making a name for herself in the male-dominated sport of auto racing.
Authored in large part by Hawaiian congresswoman Patsy Mink, Title IX was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in 2002.
“I think it’s the greatest law in the last 40 years in the U.S.,” said Christine Brennan, USA Today sports columnist during Marquette’s Pete and Bonnie Axthelm Memorial Lecture in September. “The reality of Title IX is that we’ve lived it, and don’t even think about it, which is a success in itself.”
Brennan listed Mia Hamm as the living embodiment of a Title IX athlete. The women’s soccer star was born in March 1972, three months before Title IX was passed, and scored 158 international goals in her career, more than any male or female in soccer history.
She wasn’t the most memorable player during the U.S. team’s historic victory in the 1999 World Cup. But Brennan said without Hamm’s contribution as both a player and an icon, we would have never witnessed the majestic, memorable image of Brandi Chastain ripping off her jersey after her game-winning penalty kick.
The concern is that such iconic images or opportunities will be limited in the future, as the finances are not necessarily there to give women the chance to compete on such a high level.
Digging for more
It could be argued the culture of sports is a microcosm of the entire American way of life, embracing a patriarchal structure that gives more credit to men than women.
Paul Anderson, associate director of the National Sports Law Institute and adjunct professor of law, explained the ramifications of Title IX on society and its unintentional effects on sports.
“Compared to 1972, participation levels have increased exponentially,” Anderson said. “Though that number has gone up, it’s still not the level where men were in 1972. It is not remotely equal to men at that level.
“Title IX has nothing to do with sports,” he added. “There used to be more female coaches and administrators. There were actually lost opportunities related to college athletics in particular.”
Jean Grow, associate professor of advertising and public relations, said women in sports are embraced as more of a marketing tool than an area of realistic interest.
“To see Nike as the ‘purveyor of women in sports’ is to just move the brand because anyone will talk the talk at Nike,” she said. “All you have to say is who has primetime sports coverage related to sports media. Women are so far at the bottom of the barrel to find the statistic, it’s sadly low.”
Grow used to work with Nike and also mentioned the company “hitching on” to Hamm’s success during the 1990s. Of the 17 buildings on Nike’s property, she said, only two are named for women and one is for Hamm.
Driving for change
There is one series – albeit one that is not as well known in the U.S. as it was in years past – where women and men compete in the same event at the same time.
The IZOD IndyCar Series, the open-wheel auto racing championship that races every Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis 500, has opened its doors to women racing in the same level. It’s not like the LPGA Tour or the WNBA with having a separate tour for women.
Janet Guthrie set the bar with qualifying for the 1977 race, and a year later recorded a ninth place finish in the 33-car field. Lyn St. James added her name to the field in 1992, and in 2000, she was joined by a then 19-year-old Sarah Fisher.
“My dad saw the tough side of people asking questions – why would you put your only daughter and child to boot in a race car?” Fisher said. “The biggest thing I had to get used to was the media and so many people, as I had just graduated high school.”
She spoke to having accumulated a wealth of fan popularity and a best finish of second place in more than 75 races.
“I’m pretty much the same as everyone at home – do the dishes, laundry and run a business,” she said. “That’s the uniqueness of my career, a lot of people can identify with that and just being real. Everyone that comes through the autograph line, it’s great to see them still coming and I’m still amazed with.”
Fisher is one of three women that have competed in each of the last three Indianapolis 500 races, the others the notably hyped Danica Patrick and Venezuelan driver Milka Duno. Patrick is the most recognizable IndyCar driver and is teasing a move to NASCAR.
Anderson said realistically, true opportunites for women in sports will arise when the playing field is half male and half female. He said a driver like Patrick is more noted for being a female driver, not merely a driver who happens to be female.
“They want to be the story because they’re good, not because they’re female,” he said.
Fisher said she rarely, if ever, heard of the stigma of being in IndyCar just for being a woman. Fisher and her husband now own their own team, which started in 2008.
“I don’t get a lot of feedback like that, especially now that I’ve started my own team,” she said. “I’ve never driven for a big team, or a spot that was known to be competitive. What I’m doing now is putting myself in the absolute best situation and moving forward from that.”
Fisher is one of a handful of women moving forward in the world of sports. Other examples Anderson and Grow touched on were the college basketball teams at Tennessee and Connecticut, which consistently sell out games.
All said, though strides have been made, there remains much more work to ensure women in sports can continue to grow and get noticed.
Tags: Danica Patrick, economy, IndyCar, Sports, Title IX, women, women's basketball
Loading ...