Women’s Equality Day includes education

Women’s Equality Day on August 26 includes the struggle for equity in education, which handily illustrates how movements for various aspects of women’s rights are never really separate from each other. On that date in 1920, U.S. women won the right to vote, though racism limited access to voting mainly to white women for the following 44 years until Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Author and activist Betty Friedan surprised her feminist allies in 1970 by calling for a Women’s Strike for Equality, urging women to pour into the streets on August 26. And they did all over the United States, generating the largest women’s public protest up to then and perhaps my favorite slogan of all time: “Don’t iron while the strike is hot!” The federal government in 1971 declared August 26 Women’s Equality Day.

What’s stunning about photos from the 1970 Strike marches are the signs that too often show we’re still fighting for many of the same things as back then. Safe and legal abortion services. An equal education. Ending war. Ending racism.

It’s a reminder that the journey to equity and fairness is not one march or one issue. It’s a lifetime — and then some — of education and alliance-building in pursuit of righteous relationships and equal opportunity. The struggle for the vote fed the second-wave women’s movement, which fed the Strike for Equality, which fed the passage of Title IX, which fed new generations of strong girls and women, which empowered the movement against sexual violence, which fed the massive protests against President Trump, and so much more. And all of that is feeding women voters this year to speak out, organize, and vote so we can resurrect the rights we’ve recently lost. Everyone has a role to play. Please do your part.

Elsewhere

Five fantastic charts by USA Today show the bias toward giving athletic scholarships to men who play football and not to women. And they went further by asking 20 schools why they stiffed women athletes the most on scholarships. The federal Office for Civil Rights will investigate a complaint against Goshen (Ind.) Community Schools for discriminating against girls’ sports.

Here’s a take on Title IX 50th anniversary events that’s similar to an administrative assistant getting roses from the boss instead of a raise. I’m seeing some unusual efforts to recognize this anniversary. The New York State Fair carved a giant butter sculpture depicting female athletes to honor Title IX. The University of Tennessee adopted “Summit blue” uniforms this year to honor groundbreaking coach Pat Summit and Title IX’s 50th. I’m all for eye-catching ways to remind people of Title IX. But I’d much rather see, for example, Tennessee stop its wildly inequitable, lopsided support for men’s athletics despite women being the majority of students. Really, it’s egregious — check out their EADA report.

A new study uncovered gendered differences in who accepted university offers to “stop the clock” on tenure during the pandemic, investigators reported in Innovative Higher Education. Another new study by It’s On Us looked at how to engage men in preventing sexual assault; one finding is that they don’t know the extent of sexual assault on campuses.

The number of sexual misconduct complaints in Chicago Public Schools has returned to pre-COVID pandemic levels, the Chicago Sun Times reports. The CEO of Manchester (Conn.) Community College sued the state system for gender discrimination and got her job back plus $775,000 in back pay and other damages. The number of fraternities that have cut ties to the University of Southern California has grown to 10, part of a nationwide trend that critics fear will lead to increased risks for sexual assaults at fraternity parties. A former Troy (Ala.) University football player sued the school, a former teammate, and three coaches for sexual harassment and assault that coaches let go on. East Tennessee State University said it would fire a coach for violating Title IX, but administrators gave him a $150,000 severance package instead.

Florida has its “don’t say gay” law for schools, and now Texas has a similar “don’t say trans” law. The U.S. Department of Agriculture clarified that religious educational institutions do not have to submit a written request to be exempted from Title IX so that they can discriminate without violating the law, which pretty much has been the case since the Trump administration.

Decades of racial disparities in scientific funding means women of color in the sciences got shortchanged too, according to the National Science Foundation.

On the up side

Pennsylvania now is the 27th state to ban so-called “conversion therapy,” discredited practices that try to “cure” LGBT youth to the detriment of their mental health. And a judge temporarily blocked Utah’s law banning transgender girls from participating in school athletics.

Where you’ll find me

Friday, October 28, 2022, 9 a.m. — I’ll be speaking at a Title IX conference at Northwestern University, Chicago. Details to come.

November 12, 2022 — I’m looking forward to two appearances at the National Women’s Studies Association conference in Minneapolis. Join me first at a 9:30 a.m. panel on Women’s Politics: Finding a Way Out of No Way, and then at a Feminist Authors Showcase at 1:15 p.m..

February 2023 — I’ll speak at Iowa State University’s Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics in Ames, Iowa. Stay tuned for details.

*** Would you like to set up an in-person or Zoom session with me for your organization or book club? Reach me through my Contact page.***

The Nation magazine published an excerpt from my chapter 5, which introduces Title IX’s application by the movement against sexual violence. I published an article in the Washington Post’s Made by History section, this one on “The true mother of Title IX. And why it matters now more than ever.” The Christian Science Monitor included 37 Words in two articles — a cover storyon “Title IX at 50” and a sidebar examining the racial gap among women athletes in colleges. The Smithsonian Magazine quoted me and my book in its article about Title IX. The Guardian mentioned 37 Words prominently in its story on the history of Title IX. Read about the Supreme Court’s history of curtailing Title IX and other civil rights laws in my article in The Washington PostMade by History section.

You can watch a panel about Title IX with me, basketball great Allison Hightower, and Prof. Sara Fields hosted by Tel Aviv University on July 10, 2022 at a conference on women and sport. The Post News Group highlighted 37 Words and one of the three main people the book profiles — civil rights attorney Pamela Price.  Women’s Running quoted my book in “A look at LGBTQ Athletes’ Fight for Protections Under Title IX.” The Washington Monthly gave 37 Words a fine review — check it out. The Wall Street Journal published a review of my book and I wrote a Letter to the Editor correcting some misinformation in that review.

Here are links to order your copy of my book 37 Words: Title IX and Fifty Years of Fighting Sex Discrimination (The New Press, 2022).

#TitleIX #37Words #TitleIX50th