Because it seems to be a good day for psoting about totally non-controversial political topics that I will undoubtedly not have time to follow up on, here’s an article from Inside Higher Ed that takes a dim view of current arguments about Title IX:
Right now, the situation is getting us nowhere. Ultimately, all we ever talk about is the number of men and women playing sports at a given institution, and whether the women’s number is as high as it ought to be. Raw participation numbers occupy a pretty small portion of the U.S. Department of Education’s Title IX regulations, but the overwhelming majority of news stories, debates, and lawsuits filed in this area — as well as recent research published by the Government Accountability Office — can be reduced to counting ponytails. Meanwhile, disparities between men’s revenue sports and all other sports continue to grow, while participation opportunities for women have stagnated.
Enough. Parents, coaches, and athletics administrators need to take a fresh look at what gender equity really means. Rather than focusing on participation statistics, it would be helpful to remember that Title IX forbids denying anyone the benefits of such a program or subjecting them to discrimination on the basis of gender, not merely excluding them from participation. If policy were based on the assessing the benefits of participating in sports — measuring the quality of participation opportunities, not merely the quantity — we could move a long way toward fulfilling the promise of Title IX.
It’s an interesting suggestion, and certainly a different approach to the argument. Whether it’s really practical is another matter, but at least it’s a change from the same old bickering.