Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

MODERN HISTORY OF WOMEN IN SPORTS

2000; Elsevier BV; Volume: 19; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0278-5919(05)70196-4

1556-228X

Donna A. Lopiano,

Youth Development and Social Support

Before 1970, women were virtually excluded from high school automotive, woodworking, and other technical courses and were significantly underrepresented in high school and college mathematics, science, and business courses and majors. Professional schools had quotas that severely limited the admission of women to all but teaching, nursing, social work, and library science. If women did manage to enter traditionally male programs, they were subject to possible overt sexual harassment. The women's movement of the 1970s targeted restricted access to education (e.g., business schools, medical schools, and law schools) as a primary barrier to good jobs and equal pay as the next challenge facing women in America. A federal antidiscrimination law, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), mandated nondiscrimination in admissions, access, and treatment in all educational programs offered by institutions that were the recipients of federal funds. Title IX also covered school-sponsored extracurricular activities, including intramurals, club sports, and varsity athletics, in which the participation of women was almost nonexistent and certainly underfunded. Another federal law, the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 (Amateur Sports Act), was spawned by the gender equity consciousness generated by Title IX and the issue of unfair national team selection for Olympic, Pan American, world championship, and other international sports events. Women and girls, persons of color, and those with physical disabilities were virtually absent from volunteer governance roles in open amateur sports organizations and were underrepresented in sports participation. The Amateur Sports Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender, race, and physical disability in nonschool, open, amateur sports. Title IX and the Amateur Sports Act opened the doors for women to participate in the male-dominated institution of American sports. In 1972, only 1 of 27 high school girls played varsity sports. In 1998, that figure was 1 in 3, whereas 1 of every 2 boys participated in varsity high school sports. The increase in the participation of women in Olympic, college, and high school sports during the 24 years following Title IX has been well documented (Table 1). In addition to female athletes in educational institutions, there are now more than 55 million women who participate in recreational sports and fitness activities regularly. Women represent more than 55% of all volleyball players, 43% of all runners, and 41% of all soccer players. Unlike American men, who have traditionally been pressured to participate in the sports of football, baseball, basketball, and ice hockey, women's foray into sports has been much more eclectic. Girls' and women's sports participation among all age segments and in all sports is still growing (especially in team sports, which women were previously encouraged to avoid), and most experts project another doubling of female participation rates at the high school and college levels to match boys' sports participation rates within the next several decades.