Back in April, a NYTimes/CBS News poll found that – surprise! – men and women place nearly identical value on sports opportunities for girls in high school.

Asked how important sports were for girls, 68% of men and 74% of women answered “very.” Asked about relative opportunities for girls and boys, 47% of both sexes felt girls and boys had the “same” opportunity and slightly more women — 49% vs. 45% of men – believed girls had “less” opportunity.

Both sexes, in other words, see pretty much eye to eye. They value girls’ access and recognize that it may be short of where it needs to be. If this is so, why does Title IX remain such a battlefield?

1. It’s hard to legislate cultural change. Title IX was meant to combat sexism that kept females from access to equal educational opportunities, from science classes to sports teams. The regulations, however, created a complicated web of compliance rules that require experts to interpret, keeping the average citizen from engaging around the issue of gender equity in sports. Combating unfairness has become the work of lawyers, with compliance being more about paperwork manipulation than ensuring fair play. It allows for institutional obfuscation and game-playing.
2. Title IX has become code for “Feminist Aggression.” Title IX has been portrayed as an extremist feminist weapon, a tool for taking away boy’s sports teams (rather than blaming huge football budgets), and forcing an “unnatural” level of support for female athletes. Lawsuits – by the National Women’s Law Center in November and recently by the American Sports Council – have become a form of gamesmanship (the American Sports Council claims it has a novel new legal claim never before used to battle the proportionality rule!). Instead of seeking fairness, we’re seeking wins.
3. The Persistent Myth that Women Don’t Really Like Sports as Much as Men (and they aren’t as good anyhow, so why provide the same support?) At every level, from recreational to professional, there’s belief that women are less interested and less deserving. The pervasive negative messages feed girls’ self-doubt at young ages, spurring self-censorship, and the inclination to take themselves out of contention or participation in a sport before they can face imagined rejection. It is not enough to “allow” girls to play – whether it’s Little League Baseball or soccer at recess – they must be encouraged. The result of this perceptual imbalance? The sense that “interested” boys are being denied by “uninterested” girls. This feeds a false narrative that fairness is being “forced” where it doesn’t belong.

Unfortunately, Title IX is a rough tool for the task of changing hearts, minds, and attitudes. The Women’s World Cup made a potent dent in the perception of women’s athletics as “less than.” Many males sports fans were stunned to find themselves interested and entertained by a women’s sporting event (gasp!!).

The law– and labyrinthine regulations – guarantee a protracted battle. If only common sense and fairness could actually rule. But that would require seeing female and male athletes as equals.

News of Judge Sylvia Pressler’s death last week – at 75 at a family home in Sparta, NJ – drew a few paragraphs in the newspaper, but hardly attracted huge attention.

And yet, as spring training gets underway and kids prepare for Little League tryouts (now a winter affair), we should remember Pressler’s contribution — and not just her 1973 finding allowing Maria Pepe of the Hoboken Democrats to play Little League — but the way she framed the issue.

Pressler made clear the connection between sports – in this case, Little League Baseball – and political equality. “The institution of Little League is as American as the hot dog and apple pie,” she wrote in her findings. “There’s no reason that part of Americana should be withheld from girls.”

When the National Organization for Women filed a grievance on behalf of Pepe with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, the debate focused chiefly on concerns that girls would get hurt if they played baseball with boys – a notion that if you look at the size of many 9 and 10-year-old girls compared with boys, appears downright silly (note the size of the girl vs. the boys in the Times story photo below, published after Pressler’s findings and amid widespread debate).

In researching Playing with the Boys, N.O.W granted me access to their papers, including details of the 1973 proceedings and Pressler’s findings. During six days of testimony in the case, Little League officials tried every argument they could muster to bar girls from the game. One of the most amusing points came from Dr. Creighton J. Hale, physiologist and Little League VP, who argued that “the possibility of cosmetic injury is more ‘socially damaging’ for a girl than it is for a boy.” Another LL representative, Dr. Thomas Johnson, a San Diego psychiatrist, argued that forced integration of the sexes was bad for children’s mental development. “Boys like to be with boys and girls like to be with girls,” he said.

Give Pressler credit at a time when it was not easy to stand up to male tradition for insisting that integration of the sexes (and, yes, even in the male sport of baseball) mattered. “I have no doubt that there are many reputable psychologists who would agree with the ‘birds of a feather’ theory,” Pressler wrote. “But the extension of that is that whites like to be with whites, blacks like to be with blacks and Jews likes to be with Jews; and that whole theory is a contradiction to the laws of this state and this country.”

Further, she said, “the sooner little boys begin to realize that little girls are equal and that there will be many opportunities for a boy to be bested by a girl, the closer they will be to better mental health.”

Her ruling created an uproar. But it stood.

Imagine if someone who lacked her clarity of vision had decided the case? When I learned of her passing, I had one thought: Thank you, Sylvia Pressler.

The New York Times, April 2, 1974

By Laura Pappano

The visual is stunning.

Click here to see the Little League Softball World Series championship TV schedule.  You’ll find ESPN2 (the channel broadcasting women’s college hoops unless there is a men’s game that can’t fit the ESPN or network schedule) is showing two semi-final games on Tues., Aug. 18 and the championship on Wed., Aug. 19 (7 p.m. EST)

Reasonable airtime given that this is Little League. Kids. Right?

Mistake. That is the Little League Softball World Series. Click here for Little League Baseball’s World Series broadcast schedule.

Softball games may be limited to three on TV, but from Fri., Aug. 21 to Sun. Aug. 30, you can basically watch 12-year-olds play baseball all day long (and into the night).

Between the three channels — ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC – broadcasters will bring you 36 – yep, THIRTY-SIX!! – Little League games (including consolation play).

The disparity in prestige and attention might be chalked up to the American passion for baseball over softball, if Little League didn’t have such a troublesome record on gender issues. Sure, it now “celebrates” the move to allow girls (following a successful civil complaint by N.O.W. on behalf of Maria Pepe of New Jersey in 1973).

But the move in early 1974 to start a Little League softball program has been seen by some, including Jennifer Ring author of Stolen Bases: Why American Girls Don’t Play Baseball (Illinois, 2009) as a strategy to steer girls into softball and keep baseball for boys. Today, there are few girls on Little League teams. (see post)

It may be unfair to blame Little League for what is a larger cultural truth: baseball is not merely a terrific game, but an institution that celebrates male power. But it surely is not an accident that Little League dugouts are loaded with Dads re-living their youth and it’s a rarity to see a ponytail on the field.

I am the mother of a boy smitten with baseball and Little League. I love the game and played as a kid. But as an organization (and an effective one  – is there a better brand in youth sports?) Little League is missing an important opportunity. This is not just about allowing girls to play, but encouraging them.

And if there is a Little League Softball World Series, make it as big a deal as Little League Baseball. Otherwise the message is that 12-year-old boys are just more worth watching than 12-year-old girls. And, as one who has attended my share of games, I certainly don’t think that’s the case.

By Laura Pappano

Of course being hot helps. Good-looking athletes get our attention, whether we’re talking Danica Patrick or Tom Brady. It doesn’t make them any better on the racetrack or the football field, but it does attract fans and sponsors.

I get that.

But there’s trouble when we consider the broader implications of who gets a hearing and some respect in our society – whether it’s on the field – or on a campaign trail or in a boardroom.

Do we need sex to sell women’s sports? Do women have to be attractive to be listened to? Unfortunately, women are forced to occupy a very narrow cultural space in our society (bitch, bunny, or mom?) that’s tightly tied to our bodies.

Michele Obama may be smart and accomplished, but we are most comfortable talking about her outfits and messages about organic gardening and family nutrition. That’s not as scary as hearing what she thinks.

Isn’t it obvious that we need to expand the depth and breadth of female public images? We need women pioneers (more females on Supreme Court, in Congress, in executive suites, on Little League teams, represented as artists in museums, as directors in Hollywood, etc…). In other words: Normalize female leadership so it’s not FIRST about how you look.

Artist Lillian Hsu has just launched an art action and held a mass event last weekend in which supporters placed 8.5 X 11 posters reading “Beautiful Just the Way You Are” in front of magazine covers featuring all-too-familiar representations of glam-only objectified female bodies. Her point:  Intervene and interrupt the auto-absorption process that makes smart women feel inadequate if they aren’t skinny with perfect teeth and skin.

As Hsu puts it: “Before we are ten, and then without pause throughout our lives, we internalize the lesson that our bodies are how we will be first judged as individuals, and that there is a body type that we must attain to be judged worthy of attention.” And the judging of bodies she is talking about isn’t about what athletic feats those bodies can perform, but how hot they are doing it.

I’m not burning my bra  (‘specially my sports bra!) or throwing out the lipstick. It’s all right with me if Danica Patrick takes a Madonna-like command of her sexuality. But just as everyone knows that because Tom-Brady-the-model is pretty, doesn’t mean Tom-Brady-the-football-player isn’t tough, we need to extend that flexibility to women.

While we’re at it, let’s lose those tramp-victim-slut ads for jeans and perfume and popularize the scent of real female power.

On April 21, Bayone, N.J. Little Leaguer Mackenzie Brown pitched a perfect game, retiring all 18 boys who got up to bat; she was invited to throw out the first pitch a Met’s game a few days later.

By Mackenzie Brown

I started playing baseball for the Cal Ripken League in Bayonne when I was six. I really enjoyed baseball so when I was nine, I decided to play in Little League as well as the Cal Ripken League. There are a lot of practices when you play in two leagues. Sometimes I have two in one day, but I love it.

When I am not practicing with my teams, I practice at home with my older brother, Daniel. He has taught me a lot about pitching because he pitches, too. Practicing every day is what makes me good. I like to pitch because it makes me feel like I am in control of the game.

When I was nine, I moved from rookie league to major league and that’s when I realized that there were only two other girls playing baseball. They were both a few years older than me.  All of the other girls played softball. At first my mom wanted me to switch to softball, but when she saw that I loved baseball she was fine with the idea. It never bothered me that there were no other girls my age that played baseball. I knew I could keep up with the boys.

Sometimes people joke and tell me that baseball is a boys’ sport and I shouldn’t play, but no one has ever said that to me seriously. I know a lot about the game so I can have a conversation about it with just about anyone. If anyone ever did say that seriously, I think I would ignore them. If your heart is in the game, no one can ever change your mind.

If I had to give advice to anyone who wanted to play baseball, I would say they have to like the game, and really want to play. Then, you need to practice real hard.

It does not matter if you are a boy or a girl. I would tell any girl who wanted to play baseball to practice even harder. Girls have to prove they can be just as good as the boys. I would tell them to learn all they can when they are off the field. They should watch MLB and listen to the sports announcers. They can learn a lot by doing that.

My favorite team is the NY Mets, and David Wright is my favorite player. I also like Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes and A.J. Pierzynski. I watch a lot of Mets games on television and I have even gone to a few games. We also go to a lot of minor league baseball games and when I’m not playing I like to go to the field and hang out.

My parents and my brothers are all very supportive. They are at every one of my games and my brother and my dad are always trying to give me pointers. When I am pitching I try not to listen to the people in the stands. I am pretty good at staying focused and concentrating on one pitch at a time. I try to keep the ball low, and just throw strikes. I never think of the score, I think only of doing my best every single play.

Next year I will be switching to softball. I think I will have some catching up to do to be as good as the other girls since they have been playing for a while, and I have never played, but I am willing to work really hard. I think if I start (I’ll be in 7th grade), I will be ready for high school.

There are not the same baseball opportunities for girls when you get to high school, so if I start softball next year, I’ll be ready. Hopefully, I’ll play through college.

My favorite part of this whole experience was meeting the Mets and throwing out the first pitch at Citi Field. I will remember that forever.

Being in the Mets dugout was exciting. I never thought I would be on the pitcher’s mound. It was amazing! I was nervous!! I thought I would be embarrassed if I wasn’t able to reach the plate. Fortunately, I reached! When I watch the Mets on television I think, “I was in that dugout with them. I was on that field.”  It’s a great feeling!

Mackenzie Brown is 12 years old, in sixth grade, and loves to play baseball and basketball.

In our insta-age, everything you hear about is old the second you’re in on it. But one big secret isn’t out: Girls are allowed to play baseball. (Well, kind of).

It’s 35 years since President Gerald Ford signed legislation opening Little League to girls, but it remains a shocker to actually find one on a baseball diamond. OK, of course, there are girls in Little League. But there are so few that everyone notices when they see one.

Parent antennae emit an alert signal the second they scan the field before a game. Their folding chairs may not be fully positioned when the buzz starts: Hey, did you see there’s a girl on that team? It’s not said with any malice, but rather like the way kids spot advertising vehicles on the highway. Hey did you see that truck shaped like a hot dog?

It’s a curiosity, and that’s the point. That this many years later so few girls play baseball suggests nothing less than A Great Baseball Conspiracy. This is one of those open secrets that’s as embarrassing to women as to guys because it speaks to the thousand subtle ways young children get messages about who they are and what they should – and shouldn’t — do.

In 2009, it remains scary for girls to play baseball, even at young ages when it most surely is not about physical prowess. Having watched my share of coach-pitch, it’s concerning to see the level of self-censorship girls apply to joining up for baseball. Why might that be?

Maybe thanks to ordinary encounters like one last spring in which each time two girls in a first grade (first grade!!!) Little League game reached second base they got the treatment from boys in the field: “Girls don’t belong in baseball,” “You cannot play defense,” There shouldn’t be girls in this league,” and, my favorite, “You cannot hit and we will easily get you out!” (Weren’t they already on second?)

This is not just another episode of kids-say-mean-things, but a window into the way we are raising our children. It is not helpful for girls – or boys – to have baseball serve as the vessel of American Manhood. Yet, somehow, from young ages the message gets embedded that baseball is for boys and softball is for girls. Any girl who plays baseball past fourth grade gets asked when she is going to “switch over” (read: stop making trouble and go where she belongs).

It doesn’t help that some states legally consider baseball and softball to be the same sport – which means for Title IX purposes that having softball means they are providing females an equivalent opportunity. As a female baseball player pointed out recently in The New York Times, “It’s like saying Ping-Pong and tennis are the same sport. ”

That was the issue last year when Indiana high schooler Logan Young and her parents filed suit against the Indiana High School Athletic Association. Public Justice and its cooperating lawyers succeeded in getting the association to pass an emergency rule allowing girls to tryout for baseball teams (good luck finding that key vote on their web site). Victoria Ni, a Public Justice staff attorney, says the association is expected to pass a permanent rule change when the full board meets in May.

Ni, who says the baseball-softball definition is just one of several problematic rules in Indiana school sports, says other states may be just as guilty but how to know? There is no master list of all the states that classify baseball and softball as the same sport, legally, speaking. “It’s a state by state fight,” she told me. “To research these rules is extraordinarily hard because you have to get in touch with each high school athletic association.”

One good move: After a nudge from The Women’s Sports Foundation, in December the NCAA’s Legislative Council “determined that baseball and softball are considered separate sports.” According to a February 2009 NCAA “talking points” memo, “previous interpretations of NCAA legislation stated baseball and softball were the same sport for NCAA amateurism and outside competition.”  Now college softball players can join baseball leagues in the off-season and vice versa.

While clearly a change meant to give players more flexibility without sinking their eligibility, this is a technical change which deserves some notice at the high school level – and younger. Baseball season is starting, it’s time for little girls to grab their mits and loosen up those arms.