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Introduction

“Why don’t you participate in beauty pageants instead of football?” A comment made to Heather Mercer, female kicker of the Duke University football team, by her head coach Fred Goldsmith. Mercer enrolled at Duke University in the fall of 1994 and, upon enrolling, tried out for the football team as a walk-on kicker. She initially did not make the team and instead served as a manager for the football team during the 1994 season. In the spring of 1995, she participated in conditioning drills with the football team and was selected by the seniors on the team to participate in the Blue-White Game, a scrimmage the team played each spring. In the game, Mercer kicked a 28-yard game-winning field goal, giving the Blue team a 24-22 victory. Soon after the game, Duke’s Head Football Coach Fred Goldsmith told the news media and Mercer personally, that she was on the Duke football team. Mike Cragg, Duke's sports information director, also asked Mercer to participate in a number of interviews with newspaper, radio, and television reporters. Mercer did not play in any games during the 1995 season, but she regularly attended practices. She was officially listed as a member of the Duke football team on the roster filed with the NCAA and she was pictured in the Duke football yearbook. Despite being officially listed as a member of the team, she was not allowed to dress for games or sit on the sidelines during games. In the spring of 1996, she again participated in conditioning drills with the football team.  At the beginning of the 1996 season, Goldsmith informed Mercer that she had been dropped from the team (Glover).

For decades women have been told that it is “unlady like” to participate in sports, and they have been forced to sit along the sidelines and watch. This story of Heather Mercer is a prime example of this kind of treatment. Women have been underrepresented in sports and they deserve the same recognition as men. As a result of incidents like these, Title IX was created to give women representation in athletics, and defuse negative stereotypes they have endured.

The course of education for female students and leaders in academics and athletics in the United States has changed because of Title IX. At the collegiate level, Title IX’s compliance and enforcement should be more demanding than it is in high schools. As long as they are participating in sports, women will always be ridiculed and discriminated against. For a majority of the 1900s, women were cautioned that participating in athletics and physical activities was a sign of being a lesbian – which was frowned upon in the community (Winslow). Female athletes were characterized as physically unattractive and were told that they would have a lower chance of getting married and potentially having children (Winslow). Female athletes were not seen as a “typical” person in the society.

Before Title IX was passed female athletes couldn’t rely on anyone but themselves to support their sports teams. Girls’ teams had to fundraise their own money in order to support their own sports teams. They often organized bake sales or carwashes, to help their teams prosper and be as best as it could, without the support of anyone else. Female athletes did not receive as many supporters as the school’s cheerleaders.  It was common for female athletes to play in empty gymnasiums - parents with both sons and daughters would much rather watch theirs sons play, than watching and supporting their daughters (Winslow).Equal participation  in sports can be the   incentive for change, that could help prevent and alienate discrimination and prejudices in society.  Title IX was established to fix the stereotypical notions of female’s interests and abilities in sports that would be the reason for discrimination.  

Title IX was originally created for educational purposes, not sports and athletics. Athletics are an additional part of the classroom, thus being an essential component of education. Educators cannot limit opportunities and potential for some. Gender equality requires precise recognition in order to make sure that all gender are given equality in educational opportunities and are given an equal opportunity to shine in athletics to achieve their aspirations. It is now that everyone should properly interpret and comprehend this law so that society can be free of discrimination and prejudice in the athletic field. “We should not favor any sport because of the dominate gender playing the sport, we should embrace all genders and encourage everyone to play any sport in which they choose” (Adkisson). People should demand that schools use ethnical judgment to ensure that neither boys nor girls are left behind and left out of equality in the classroom or athletic fields.  

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