X of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. This piece of legislation is generally considered to have paved the way for a significant increase in participation in sports by women. This was especially true originally on the collegiate level as Title IX mandated that ôNo person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistanceö (1174).
While such government legislation stemmed from pressure on politicians to promote equality for women and men, there have been political issues on colleges and universities across the nation that have arisen due to such legislation. At many colleges and universities male sports programs generate the most prestige and income. Because of this, many college and universities are reluctant to take funds from male sports programs to originate or maintain female sports programs. Further political controversy arose over the fact that to get around such a dilemma, many colleges and universities simply began cutting male sports programs that were not considered profitable or as prestigious as football or basketball, like wrestling and soccer. However, Lopiano (2003) argues that such policies are unnecessary and counterproductive, ôIf athletic budgets do not increase and schools want to maintain current levels of participation for male athletes and increase participation levels of female athletes, the solution is to give all teams a smaller portion of the budget pieö (1176).
The purpose of government is to manage resource allocation in a way the serves the interests of the constituency. However, resources are often allocated in an unequal distribution wherein the wealthy classes receive more support than do the middle- and lower-classes. Working class men and women were often denied access to amateur sports during the early 19t...