Title IX has only been in effect about 35 years; not sufficient to effect a cultural change for women and sports. Therefore, it is to be expected that women may not seek to participate in sports at the same level as men. Female participation in sports declines with age; in addition, a greater number of women than men seek post-graduate educational opportunities, which may suggest a greater emphasis on education than on athletics. Title IX does not give colleges or universities the ability to assess cultural relevance to determine whether proportionality is an appropriate goal.
Conclusion
While it is an over-simplification to say that Title IX has caused a decline in men's minor sports, such as wrestling, the reality is that the changes made due to Title IX have contributed to that decline. Rather than taking the opportunity to increase opportunities for women, some universities have refused to move funding from their profit-making sports into non-revenue sports. However, they have been pressured to move funding to women's sports, which has resulted in them cutting funding for some minor sports programs. The result has been a rapid-fire demise in college-wrestling programs....
However, it is important to remember that Title IX does not mandate such a result; it only mandates that women be given the same opportunities as men in sports.
References
Bentley, E. (2004). Title IX: the Technical knockout for men's non-revenue sports. Journal of Law and Education, 33, 140-166.
Breese, J. (2008). Varsity wrestling opportunities cut/dropped since 1972. Retrieved
September 28, 2008 from Intermat
Web site: http://www.intermatwrestle.com/college/dropped.aspx
Haglund, R. (2005). Staring down the elephant: college football and Title IX compliance,
Journal of Law and Education, 34, 439-452.
Kuznick, L., & Ryan, M. (2007). Changing social norms? Title IX and legal activism:
comments from the Spring 2007 Harvard Journal of Law & Gender Conference. Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, 38, 367-422.
National Women's Law Center. (2007). Title IX and men's minor sports: a false conflict.
Retrieved September 28, 2008, from National Women's Law Center
Web site: http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/Men's%20Minor%20Sports%20Final.pdf
