Title IX: Reverse Discrimination Beginning some time shortly after the end of World War II, there has been tremendous growth in womens athletics. For decades female athletes have been striving to become as equally respected as their male counterparts. After years of reaching for their goals, female athletes finally realized their dreams in the form of Title IX. As stated by Jim Minter, former editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Title IX is the federal government telling colleges and universities that if X number of athletic scholarships are given to males, then an equal number must be awarded to female students(AJC A14). Title IX, a United States federal law passed in 1972, was a milestone in the history of the womens rights movement. Female athletes could at last have the same opportunities that male athletes had always had. But this is not the end of the story, nor does the story have a happy ending. There is a darker side of Title IX, a side that discriminates against male athletes.A good example of discrimination against male athletes involves the sport of wrestling. Not only is wrestling the oldest sport known to man, it is also an American tradition. If the average person in the South were asked to name his favorite wrestler, however, that person would probably blurt out the name of some phony professional wrestler. Why would this person be so ignorant about the oldest sport known to man? The reason is that Title IX has virtually wiped out collegiate wrestling in the South. Starting back in the late l970s, SEC schools began dropping their wrestling programs to make room for more womens sports. Today there are only five or six colleges in the South that still have wrestling programs. This lack of wrestling programs in the South has significantly decreased the opportunities for ex-high school wrestlers, like me, to continue their sport in college. Wrestling , however, is not the only mens sport affected ...
