She's A Money Player Now

In the previous article, Andrea Poe discussed how we would never see a multi-million dollar football player be a women. She believed that our society could never take a female football player seriously enough to give her the same respect male football players recieve. This theory was proven correct after Heather Sue Mercer filed a suit against Duke University in 1997. She claimed that the Duke football coaches cut her from the football team because she was a women. She said that she was treated differently from the male players, thus, the university violated Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 prohibiting gender discrimination.
After starting on her high school team, Mercer wanted to be the first female Division I kicker. As a Duke walk-on, she kicked a 28-yard field goal earning her the opportunity to play on their team. Soon afterward, former head coach Fred Goldsmith banned her from summer training camp and season practice until he made the decision to cut her altogether. He then continued to ask her, "Why do you insist on playing football?" and "Why not try something like beauty pageants?" (She's A Money Player Now). Not only do these type of statements imply sex discrimination, but it also shows men's lack of respect for women in sports. Goldsmith clearly believed that football was a sport for men, and strictly men. He crushed the dream of Mercer, and disregarded her skills in football. Along with that he added in a stereotypical comment about pageants, going back to the idea of women being treated as objects. He did not take her seriously as a player, so he tried to convince her to participate in an activity that he saw as more appropriate for women. I believe this comment is as sexist as can be because of the little value he sees in women. He makes it seem that women are only useful for physical needs, and does not take their opinions and feelings into consideration. However, after a two week trial, Goldsmith got what he deserved. The jury ruled that Duke discriminated against Mercer, and awarded her with two million dollars in punitive damages. Although Duke planned to appeal the jury's decision, the case still had a major impact on the number of women who played on their school's football team.
Duke University could still say that Mercer's skill was not good enough to be on the team. Regardless of that, though, Goldsmith never should have made those remarks referring to Merce's decisiion to play football. It shows that even today, men consider women to be extremely unequal in sports, but how can they know that if they never give women a true opportunity to play? Mercer took a stand against this unfairness, and in the end succeeded. This could only be more motivation to women everywhere to play sports even if they're against the odds.

Perry, Joellen. "She's a money player now.(Heather Sue Mercer wins sexual discrimination case against Duke University)." U.S. News & World Report. 129. 16 (Oct 23, 2000): 18. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 8 Feb. 2010 .