Tucker, H. (2008,
September 18). Beating men opened doors for women. USA Today, p. 1E.
This article focused on the
importance of the women’s athletic movement. Tucker states that the “Battle of
the Sexes” between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs was one of the flash points
in the movement (2008). Her victory was not only one for her, but for women
everywhere.
The next flash point Tucker
discusses is the introduction of Title IX (2008). This is the law that bans sex
discrimination at schools receiving federal funds. While Title IX won the war
for education, King clearly made a huge leap for women in sports.
King was not the only one who
was highlighted in this article. Candace Parker, Danica Patrick, and Angela
Tincher were mentioned because they consistently showed tremendous athleticism
but also because they beat their male counterparts.
The other aspect of sports
highlighted in this article was in terms of coaching, managing, and team
ownership for females. Only about a dozen women are presidents and five are
athletic directors at the 119 schools in the Bowl Subdivision (Tucker, 2008). Yet
there is only three women as athletic directors in the six conferences that
have automatic bids to the Bowl Championship Series (Tucker, 2008). Tucker
stressed that people believe this is true because of their big time football
teams. People apparently don’t want women being athletic directors if they have
a big time football team because they “don’t understand it.”
I really like the final statement in the closing of this post that King’s confidence should give all women confidence that they can achieve some of these goals within sport. Typically, all it takes is for one person to stand up and start a movement. King’s victory over Bobby Riggs was a big boost in confidence for other women such as Candace Parker and Danica Patrick to pursue success in their respective sports. One person’s achievements translate over to other people and give them the confidence to chase their dreams. As far as women becoming athletic directors of big time football teams, I think it will take some time but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Just like the other hurdles women had to overcome in sport, it will only take one person to change the mindset that women just don’t understand big time football teams. Once people begin to realize that women can be successful athletic directors, that barrier will also be broken down.
ReplyDeleteKaleb Kuzma
Kaleb raises an interesting point about whether women will become Athletic Directors at schools with big-time College football programs. This has actually happened already. In the early 1990s, Michigan State University hired Merrily Dean Baker to take over as A.D. after former Head Football coach George Perles had served in an interim capacity without any pay. Needless to say, it was a controversial hiring and a difficult position for Baker to be in. Another woman who served as an A.D. was Debbie Yow at the University of Maryland. ESPN did a wonderful program on her in 2002, when they explained how she had erased nearly $51 million in debt and did not cut any sports' teams during her tenure.
DeleteThese are some of the things we will be discussing as we examine Title IX.
Dr. Spencer
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt is really interesting that among 119 schools in the Bowl Subdivision but there is only 3 women athletic directors, and people think "They don't understand it." I think it reflects what is really happening in the society and this thought is absolutely wrong. The blog not only mentions Billie Jean, but Candace Parker. They already proved that women can achieve what men can achieve, and even beat men in the competition, therefore, why not at the administration level. As a student, I have a lot of female classmates and they learn what male students learn, get same or better grades than male students do. There is no reason women cannot understand what men understand, and there is no reason women cannot be the athletic directors at big time teams.
ReplyDelete-Haoyan Gu
I really liked this post and the content in which you chose to highlight. One thing that I have always been interested in is the Title IX. This does ban sex discrimination in our educational system. What I don't understand is that our sports are played throughout a "school" year in which all rules are applied during these events that would take place in school. For example behavior, language, and so on. So if Title IX spans over our education (in school), why can’t it range out to extra-curricular activities like sports? I feel that this also ties into the coaching, managing, and ownership of teams for females. If we want to see change in these areas we need someone to pioneer a movement. Yes we have our share of great female coaches. We don't have them in male sports though. Like you said football is a key example because they don't understand it. One reason why this could be true is because once they get to a certain age we tell them it’s no longer acceptable for them to participate. How can we expect for these positions to be filled if you are shunned from the sport at a certain point?
ReplyDeleteI really thought the part about there only being around a dozen presidents of the 119-bowl subdivision was very interesting. Here at BGSU we have President Mazey and as a male i don't feel anything weird about having a female president. She does her job and i think any male could do the job the same way so it doesn't matter if they're male or female. i also think that Billie Jean King is an amazing woman and amazing athlete. She gave women a voice when it came to sports and taught women not to be intimidated by males. I think in years to come we will be talking about other female athletes such as Ronda Rousey, Danica Patrick, and Brittany Griner, the same way we talk about Billie Jean. We will talk about them because they changed the way not only men, but women also look at sports and what women can do. I know form a personal experience I never thought I would want to watch women’s basketball but after hearing about Brittany Griner I started watching games and I noticed ESPN would broadcast more women’s games when she played.
ReplyDeleteEllen,
ReplyDeleteSince you brought up about women Athletic Directors, I thought I would share this link that interviews several women who are currently in such positions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BQLPjlyofg
I also wanted to share about when I started my doctoral program at Michigan State University in the early 1990s. At the time, the President of the University supported the hiring of a woman named Merrily Dean Baker. Unfortunately for her, the President left shortly after she became A.D. This presented her with a challenge since she was not supported by the Men's Football Coach (who was led to believe he would be the next A.D.) and the Men's Basketball coach. I'm not sure how long she remained in that position, but it had to be a challenge for her to be there.
Thanks for discussing this in your blog entry.
Dr. Spencer
This is a good post, especially for showing the importance of how women can impact sports. Having the female athletes listed brings awareness to the success that woman really do have in sports, on top of the fact that they were able to beat male athletes who participates in the same sport. I like this post because it acknowledges the athletes who have done this. I also enjoyed reading about the females in sports with coaching or managing or ownership roles. You brought to the mind of the readers the scarcity of women athletic director and presidents there really are in sports. I personally feel that there should be more female roles dealing with management in sport along with females not being overlooked with their talents.
ReplyDeleteAvery Turner
This is a good post, especially for showing the importance of how women can impact sports. Having the female athletes listed brings awareness to the success that woman really do have in sports, on top of the fact that they were able to beat male athletes who participates in the same sport. I like this post because it acknowledges the athletes who have done this. I also enjoyed reading about the females in sports with coaching or managing or ownership roles. You brought to the mind of the readers the scarcity of women athletic director and presidents there really are in sports. I personally feel that there should be more female roles dealing with management in sport along with females not being overlooked with their talents.
ReplyDeleteAvery Turner
Females getting the same career opportunities and males has been a long term problem. This proves to be especially evident in areas of sport professions. It is the notion that women do not have the same knowledge base as males in sports. Once again, we have to work ten times harder than men just to prove ourselves. I believe that females can do anything that males can, and can even do it better if the knowledge is there. The question is raised though; should females be able to manage and direct a sport that they do not have the chance to play at the same level as males? I would say yes. Just because they are not able to physically participate, it does not mean that they do not possess the knowledge and skills needed to manage a football team.
ReplyDelete