why we have title 9

Today I bumped into both the Women's crew and the Men's lightweight crew for the first time.  Such a different dynamic on those teams!  When my team works out at the boathouse, or on the water, we parade around with our chests out in our castle, our shrine of athletic achievement. The women's team, in the same context, are timid, reserved, and submissive. They seem embarrassed to be getting in our way.  The men's lightweights don't even seem like athletes.  They seem like second-class citizens, like rats waiting for the big boys to throw them a crumb.

The reason for this social athletic hierarchy is obvious, but very striking to an American used to the inversions of Title 9.  Here, in the eyes of virtually everyone, we are the true athletes; we get the sponsorship deals, the tv contract, the media coverage, and our race is the most watched rowing event, and takes place in the middle of one of the most important cities in the world.  The women's team dont have any of these things.  They have to mooch off our facilities, and dont even get to race in London (they instead race at Henley).  They dont even have team vehicles; they take the train every morning to Ely to row.  

While rowing in the US, I was a living example of how Title 9 goes wrong for so long; womens programs were always better funded, better equipped than us, and just in general treated better.  It is so strange to be on the other side of that line, and really reveals about why the NCAA enforces title 9 as it does.