Union College Union | Digital Works Honors Theses Student Work 6-2018 Nevertheless, She Persisted: Title IX and the Fight for Gender Equity in Athletics in the Twentieth Century Gillian O'Dowd Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses Part of the United States History Commons, and the Women's History Commons Recommended Citation O'Dowd, Gillian, "Nevertheless, She Persisted: Title IX and the Fight for Gender Equity in Athletics in the Twentieth Century" (2018). Honors Theses. 1665. https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/1665 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at Union | Digital Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Union | Digital Works. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. O’Dowd Page !1 Nevertheless, She Persisted: Title IX and the Fight for Gender Equity in Athletics in the Twentieth Century By Gillian O’Dowd ********** Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Honors in the Department of History June 2018 O’Dowd Page !2 Abstract During the first half of the twentieth century, the field of athletics in the United States was dominated by a culture of masculinity. Due to this inherent link with masculinity, American women were kept from participating in sports to protect their feminine nature. As the years passed of continuous oppression, only a small handful of women were able to fight back and make a name for themselves as prominent and successful athletes. To combat the larger issue of gender discrimination in America, a women’s movement was launched in the 1960s and 1970s.