"A Title IX for Women in Politics"

Article here. Excerpt:

'The 2016 Olympics in Rio were both a triumph for American athletes and a tribute to the lasting impact of Title IX, the 1972 law that set out to equalize educational and athletic opportunities for the nation’s women and girls. Women made up a majority the 554 American athletes at this year’s Olympics, and brought home fully half of the 121 medals won by U.S. competitors.

For women seeking parity in the United States, particularly in the political sphere, Title IX offers an important road map. Female athletes were not told to change their attire, behavior, or strategy, as women in politics are constantly advised to do. They were materially helped by legal protections and systemic policy changes. As the nation gears up to vote in a presidential election featuring the first woman ever nominated by a major political party, female politicians in America need a Title IX of their own.

The story of Title IX’s origins is an inspiring one. In response to being passed over for a full-time teaching position because she “came on too strong for a woman,” then-University of Maryland lecturer Bernice Sandler helped to organize 350 sex discrimination complaints at academic institutions. Congressional hearings concluded that the inequality that girls and women were experiencing merited a comprehensive structural remedy in the form of federal intervention.

The result was Title IX, which banned sex discrimination in federally funded educational programs. The law has delivered concrete results. Women now earn degrees at a higher rate than men in traditionally male fields. One of its most important impacts has been in athletic programs, which were required to offer men and women equal access to sports resources and opportunities. Despite initial controversy and male backlash on college campuses, Title IX was widely credited this year for cultivating women’s Olympic triumph—and the nation’s—in Rio.'