11. Title IX

Dear Followers,

Did you know what U.S. Army General Ann Dunwoody, jockey Julie Krone, TV journalist Lisa Ling, and writer Anna Quindlen have in common? These amazing women, like the others in Chapter 11, were comfortable (rather than frightened by) taking risks.

The major news story of the week is the death of Senator Ted Kennedy, and whether Republican or Democrat, today’s women all owe him a big Thank You for his work as a key supporter of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. This bill helped balance the amount of money spent on men’s and women’s sports.

Mary Jo Kane, director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sports at the University of Minnesota said “…he always argued for … making sure that young girls and women had equal opportunities on the sports field…He understood that the world of sports is not just about who wins and loses, but the kinds of experiences that young girls had been denied for centuries.”
Female stars like Sue Bird, Crystal Bustos, Mary Decker, Lisa Leslie, Michelle McGann, Dara Torras and Venus and Serena Williams could not have enjoyed the success they did 50 years ago.

Exciting news! Today I received the first bound copy of The Self-Empowered Woman. Finally, both Tony and I can exhale – hope you’ll think it’s as impressive as we do…

About Marilyn Murray Willison

The author of six non-fiction books, Willison worked as Health and Fitness Editor at the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, and wrote book reviews, health, beauty, fashion, and travel articles on a regular basis for the Los Angeles Times. Her byline has appeared in a wide variety of American newspapers and magazines.