On June 23, 1972, Title IX officially
became a law in the United States. It basically states that no one, regardless
of sex, shall be discriminated against in educational institutions receiving
financial aid from the federal government. Although not specifically stated in
the law itself, Title IX became significant for opening the doors for women to
have more opportunities to play sports. Just a little over a year later, on
September 20, 1973, female tennis star Billie Jean King defeated male opponent
Bobby Riggs in a historic matchup commonly known as the “Battle of the Sexes.” King’s
impressive victory invoked pride and confidence in women all over the nation.
Both of these events, the introduction of Title IX and King’s victory over
Riggs, were essential to the advancement of women during the second wave of the
feminist movement.
The timing in which
these two events came into play could not have been more perfect. As stated
above, Title IX did not actually mention its inclusion of athletic programs in
its regulations. However, the “Battle of the Sexes” helped to bring attention
to the discrimination that women often dealt with when it came to competing in
sports. The match was seen by about 48 million national viewers. Prior to King
and Riggs stepping onto the court that evening, the match had been heavily
promoted and greatly hyped. It had been turned into a show that pitted not just
King against Riggs but all women in general against all men in general. King
came out while being carried on a throne by muscular men. Riggs came out with a
following of half-naked women with him. Never before had the tensions between
men and women competing against each other in sports been displayed so blatantly
to so large an audience. King realized the significance of this match. She was
not only playing for her own pride, but for the pride of all women in America.
It is no coincidence that, after King’s victory over Riggs, there were over two
million girls involved in athletics at their high schools. This number was only
about 300,000 before the match took place. Without Billie Jean King, Title IX’s
ability to increase women’s involvement in athletics would have been just an
afterthought. Also, without Title IX, Billie Jean King’s triumph may have only
been looked at as just an isolated, rare victory for women against men in the
world of sports. Both of these events must be looked at together to understand
their true impact on the feminist movement.
Hey David, I totally agree with you saying Title IX became significant for opening the doors for women to have more opportunities to play sports. Billie Jean King was a tremendous tennis player but what is remembered most about her is that she humbled Bobby Riggs. Her win made a great impact to women sports. There was absolutely a great weight on King’s shoulders going in to the match. Every woman was depending on her to win and change the perspective of how people view women playing sports. King encouraged and gave the confidence to many young girls today to get involved in sports. Even professional top tennis player Venus Williams mentioned that she wouldn’t be playing in the WTA if King did not take the challenge. Many women athletes feel like they owe it to Billie Jean King.
ReplyDeleteSadly, until today, we still have discrimination towards women playing sports but there are improvements. It is like racism, it won’t go away entirely but it’s going to improve as time goes. We are all still fighting for equality and against racism. Many things are taken for granted today, we should look back once in awhile and remember people like Billie Jean King who fought for their rights.
-Marcus Kok
I just first wanted to say that this blog journal was really well written. Anyways, I completely agree with both of you on how you guys were saying that Title IX became significant for starting a revolution for women to have more opportunities to play sports. I know for me, growing up with 3 sisters, I was able to witness Title IX first hand in a way. All of my sisters played sports in high school and my two older sisters even played in college. When I was younger, they would always talk about how they were thankful for Title IX and given the chance to play sports in a competitive atmosphere. As we talked about in class, Billie Jean King was an incredible tennis player .Defeating Bobby Riggs in my mind was probably the single most important thing to help the feminist movement and future woman athletes. Even though I am a male, in a way I am thankful for everything Billie Jean King did because my family means everything to me, and the fact that my sisters had all these stories to share about their playing careers is mainly due to Billie Jean King and Title IX. Another thing that we talked about in class was that the number female athletes in sports skyrocketed significantly after this match. My mom used to tell me stories about how Billie Jean King encouraged and gave her confidence to get involved in sports. Ultimately she went on to play badminton and at one point she was runner up to the state champion.
ReplyDeleteBy Josh Gibson