Research Brainstorming

I chose to do research on the Title IX legislation of 1972. This topic is extremely interesting to me because I am a female and I play many sports. I have three brothers and have grown up playing in the neighborhood with all boys. Then in high school I was privileged enough to be able to play on all girls team sports teams. I have talked to my grandma about this and she has told me stories of what female sports were like when she was younger and I cannot wait to explore the causes of the changes I know occurred. I will probably look into questions such as: How did the law influence both men’s and women athletics? What exactly did the law say? Was there a stigma that went along with the law? How has it influenced life today? I have a few books on Title IX that my mom is going to mail me. I also need to look in the library and databases for up to date sources to show current correlations. I know there is a famous picture of Brandi Chastain after winning the world cup in 1999 that I could definitely use. This was a turning point for the stigma behind Title IX because she was celebrating a win for female athletics and I remember it first hand and am interested in the rhetorical impact that the picture had.  It will be kind of tricky to take a stance and make an argument on this topic but I was thinking that my thesis could be something along the lines of “Title IX had an extremely positive impact on female athletics” but then I will have to provide an alternate view point possibly that of an anti-feminist. Also I will have to address the negative impacts of Title IX on men’s athletic department. The so what clause comes in for me on a personal level because I would not be able to play organized sports at the high school and college level if it weren’t for this law. Title IX not only transformed women’s presence in the sports world, but also their role in modern society as well.