Fierce And Nerdy: Girls vs Boys = City vs Suburbs?
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 14:40This is a cross post with FierceAndNerdy.com.
A couple weeks ago the New York Times ran an article about the disparity between boys and girls’ sports.
Schools have made great strides towards scholastic athletic equality since the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Although Title IX made no specific reference to athletics and in fact covers any school program, it’s most prominent effect has been to equalize expenditures on boys’ and girls’ athletics for any institution receiving federal funding. Even beyond the direct dollars spent, Title IX has had a profound on girls’ sports participation. Witness the rise of the WNBA and of the Women’s Final Four as a televised event. They may not draw the fans and advertising dollars of the men, but twenty years ago their success would have been unfathomable.
According to the Times article, “50 percent of girls in the suburbs described themselves as ‘moderately involved’ athletes,” compared to 54 percent of boys. Those are nearly even numbers.
In that statement, however, lies the rub: “in the suburbs”. The point of the Times article is that in urban areas, female athletic participation suffers greatly; only 36 percent of girls, compared to 56% of boys, in the city consider themselves “moderately involved” in sports.
Continue Reading Fierce And Nerdy: Girls vs Boys = City vs Suburbs?







