Leveling the Playing Field. . .Positive?

The best laid plans of mice, men and women. . .so they say.

That certainly applies to Title IX of the Civil Rights Act. It prohibits discrimination against women in education from kindergarten to post grad.

The most profound effect, however, by far has been in sports. Especially at the high school and college level—girls'/women's participation in sports has increased 900%. Spending on sports at high schools and colleges has increased proportionately.
I would have given a discreet number of body parts to have played high school basketball, but the only physical activity that was open to girls was cheerleading. Which is jumping up and down and screaming your head off​, a made-to-order activity for the oldest in a family dealing with the father's death and her mother's reoccurring TB.

Of late, I have made the acquaintance of a woman who did what you had to do if you wanted to play girl's basketball in Cascade—enroll in Monticello High School. Then I would have envied her green and changed places with her in a heartbeat. Now, not so much.

She spends lots of time in doc's offices dealing with the effects of excessive physical activity, and I am counting my blessings, as I cast a critical eye at the parade of girls in high schools wearing ace bandages and on crutches. The competition has become more intense and I cannot believe it benefits young women. Moderate exercise is essential, excessive exercise will haunt a kid her entire life.