The Uneven Playing Field
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/magazine/11Girls-t.html?_r=2&ref=othersports&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Can Title IX cause injury? Well, according to the parents of Janelle, a high school senior at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Title IX gave her the misconception that she could be as strong as men. As a midfielder for the Lady Raiders, Janelle has had two anterior cruciate ligament (A.C.L.) ruptures and had two surgeries on the knee to get it back into shape. She had two of the eight A.C.L. ruptures her 18-player team experienced during her four years on the team. A big concern is that athletes in general are always in so much pain, but they push through it and keep going like a machine. Bodies are not meant to go through that type of training and their muscles will eventually be overworked. For Janelle, her injuries were becoming routine, which shows how common these injuries are.
Janelle’s father knew that Title IX was created and passed in 1972 to give women in sports equal opportunity, but believes that it “has helped to shape a couple of generations of girls who believe they are as capable and as tough as any boy.” That is the typical hegemonic thinking that put women in the position they are fighting to stop. The medical explanation says that during puberty boy’s high levels of testosterone add muscle and strength, but decrease flexibility. Girl’s estrogen level increase flexibility, but add more fat than muscle. Due to the lack of muscle, which girls need to train harder to gain the level of strength as boys, and the amount of flexibility, the joints cannot be kept in a stable, safe position. Thus, girls are more prone to knee and joint injuries.
Of course, what does this truly have to do with Title IX? Girls are just as aware of their risks playing in any high contact or high risk sports as the boys are. There are consent forms that need to be signed to play in these sports for both sexes, and injury is always a common risk. Girls wanted the opportunity to play and were prepared to play just as hard as the boys. Title IX is a document providing equal opportunity, but does not demand that girls who don’t want the risk to play in these sports. Janelle had an unfortunate run in with injury, but she is still out there playing and almost did not get the okay to play in her own championships. Title IX is there, but if you can’t stand the heat, don’t play sports. Title IX is not to blame. Everyone, girls and boys, are in it for the love of the game and take whatever may come, dust themselves off, and keep going.
Scott Shapiro TTh 2-3:15. kin 338I
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This article just seems like another way to blame Title IX for giving females the opportunity to play sports. I say shame on the father for making his daughter feel like just because she is a female she is getting injured. We all know that there are various physiological differences in the muscular structure of males and females. It sounds like Janelle is a fighter and is no stranger to sports and their injuries. Good for her for not giving up and playing in her own championship. As for Janelle’s father, he may be a bit of a control freak, there may have been prior things he could have done to avoid some of these injuries. He could have advised Janelle to not go in to high contact sports for a while and allow her to properly heal from her prior injuries, I think he may have pushed her and is now feeling guilty. In turn he feels like blaming Title IX is the only thing he can do. Title IX has done so much good for females and has opened a whole new world of sport. I think Janelle’s father has a lot to learn from her, she is not a quitter and is going further than most people would have.
T.Rojero
kin 338I.S6
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