All In: Women athletes and the pursuit of liberty – Times Union
Women’s life, liberty and pursuit of happiness came into focus as the anniversary of Title IX and its celebrations were dampened by the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
ESPN’s “37 Words,” a four-part series about Title IX, provided me with a jolt of hope during an emotionally draining week. The documentary — now available on streaming services — tells the story of Title IX from its fascinating beginnings through the 50 years that followed.
I watched “37 Words” while feeling frustrated, angry and helpless. Dismantling Title IX will certainly be on the agenda of those who want a national abortion ban, who want to revisit gay rights and who want to take away contraception. The conservative wrecking ball that exists in the form of the extremist Supreme Court and out-of-control state legislatures won’t stop after eliminating a women’s right to privacy and health care.
“It’s oddly cruel for this to happen during this time of Title IX, celebrating this piece of legislation that gave so many women the opportunity to make our own choices about what we wanted to do with our lives,” said USWNT soccer star Megan Rapinoe, just hours after the Supreme Court overturned Roe.
Rapinoe and gymnast Simone Biles will be among 17 people presented with the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in a ceremony next week, the White House announced Friday. Cheers to that terrific news.
Part one of “37 Words,” subtitled “Too Pushy For a Woman,” features the stories of women and men who worked to get Title IX enacted in the first place. We learn U.S. Rep. Edith Green of Oregon famously and on the sly wrote the Title IX provision into the 1972 Higher Education Act. We learned the “Father of Title IX” Illinois’ U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh, gave much of the credit for shaping his women’s rights legislation efforts to his wife Marvella.
I was strengthened by the Grant High School coach and softball team featured in part four of “37 Words,” subtitled “Generation Next.” The team simply wanted a field to match the boys’ field but when plans for a softball facility were dropped from a $138 million renovation that was completed in 2019, Coach Debbie Engelstad and three other players became plaintiffs in a June 2021 lawsuit alleging Title IX discrimination.
ESPN and Capital News Service — a University of Maryland student organization — reported Engelstad is a member of the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame and the girls’ softball coach for 35 years. ESPN aired scenes of her tending to the fields about a mile from school, mopping up mud and cleaning up dog poop.
Looking back she was shocked that she put up with her team playing on dismal facilities for so long.
She quoted Billie Jean KIng during the ESPN doc: “Everyone thinks women should be thrilled when we get crumbs, and I want women to have the cake, the icing, and the cherry on top, too.”
“I probably should have done it much earlier in my career,” Engelstad told Capital News. “But I continued to believe that the district that I worked for as a teacher, that they would do the right thing.”
It took a federal lawsuit to make them do the right thing. Portland public schools and the plaintiffs settled and agreed on a plan for a softball field at the school.
“It remains the case that equality is unfulfilled and the future of Title IX has to acknowledge that,” said Elizabeth Sharrow, professor of history and public policy at UMass Amherst, in “37 Words.”
Sharrow, an expert in Title IX studies, was responsible for developing the evidence-based policy recommendations for a report from the Women’s Sports Foundation titled “50 Years of Title IX: We’re Not Done Yet” to help shape future planning, research, and action.
The report concludes with some grassroots advice: Many choices about what gender equity looks like are made by administrators in your local elementary, middle, or high school, or your municipal youth sports leagues. Write them an email, a letter, or place a phone call to your local school administrators. Advocate for:
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Ensuring equitable treatment of all students in interscholastic athletics. A call to local administrators can go a long way to ensure that they understand that community members care about how decisions are made in athletic programs.
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Developing public documents about how the school is addressing gender equity in sports, as well as the full inclusion of LGBTQ athletes, BIPOC athletes, and athletes with disabilities.
When will the spirit of Title IX truly be realized? My cynical self says never and worries that things will continue to move backward before we move forward once again.
But a timely letter made me feel less frustrated and less helpless.
“Since I started reading your columns I think very differently about girls and women’s sports. Thank you for opening my eyes,” a reader wrote.
Thank you, sir, for the kind comment and making my eyes water once again during a very emotionally rough week.
Joyceb10bassett@gmail.com • @joyceb10bassett • timesunion.com/author/joyce-bassett
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This column is sponsored by Times Union Women@Work, the Capital Region’s network of business and professional women. Join today at: https://womenatworkny.com