The first day I was a girl was in my backyard with my brother picking up brush to burn in a pile and my dad said I had to put a shirt on that summer even though it was hot and my brother was shirtless and I was six or seven and helping clean up the backyard and it was a wooded lot down a long gravel drive and there was nobody to see it but I was a girl in that heat and always would be - Stevie Edwards
Throughout history, there have been laws and policies put in place over the years to help protect and promote women from discrimination. For every policy there has been “helping” women move up in the world, there is a hidden clause which a majority of citizens do not realize. While after 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote, in 1924 there was a policy passed where women have a curfew on working, unless you were a sex worker working to please men. Which then would result in more women becoming sex workers because that would be the only way to “work at night” to provide money for themselves. In 1932, The National Recovery Act was passed which, “forbids more than one family member from holding a government job”, which made the outcome of many women losing their jobs over their husband.
It is now 2022, and women are still fighting for the same rights as men. Women fight for the same respect, integrity, and power that men do- supremely in sports. While there have been improvements such as whistleblower policies, Title IX, Roe V. Wade, there are still major “if, and, or buts” to every scenario.
While Title IX was passed in 1972 it might be a policy, but it does not have any legal standing. The NCAA says they will comply, but according to the Supreme Court Case NCAA vs. Smith, “The protections provided by Title IX to shield student-athletes from this sort of diverse treatment do not apply to the NCAA” (Levine). Roe V. Wade was passed in 1973, but now in 2022 they want to overturn the law and make it the state’s decision if they should uphold it, which the majority of the states in America, which are run by men, do not want to.
From when you are a young girl, to when you die you have people control your life. Women get told what to do, how much money they can make, how they should act, what they should wear, and how their body should look. Women get told they are not enough in every way from the law, all to the nature of their body shape.
Discrimination can be reduced by supporting all women, putting women in leadership positions, and talking about inequality in all social groups whether male or female. There needs to be programs and classes through organizations that teach all athletes about sexual assault and what it is. Most sexual assault cases go unfiled because the victim does not even know they are victim. There needs to be an emphasis on victims that they will be listened to, treated with respect, believed, and have just actions come about. When talking about both female and male athletes’ careers, do not highlight the good and leave out the bad. Support all women whether it is your mother, sister, or stranger across the street.
