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37 Words: Title IX and Fifty Years of Fighting Sex Discrimination
A sweeping history of the federal legislation that prohibits sex discrimination in education, published on the fiftieth anniversary of Title IX “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” —Title IX’s first thirty-seven words
By prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded education, the 1972 legislation popularly known as Title IX profoundly changed the lives of women and girls in the United States, accelerating a movement for equal education in classrooms, on sports fields, and in all of campus life.
37 Words is the story of Title IX. Filled with rich characters—from Bernice Resnick Sandler, an early organizer for the law, to her trans grandchild—the story of Title IX is a legislative and legal drama with conflicts over regulations and challenges to the law. It’s also a human story about women denied opportunities, students struggling for an education free from sexual harassment, and activists defying sexist discrimination. These intersecting narratives of women seeking an education, playing sports, and wanting protection from sexual harassment and assault map gains and setbacks for feminism in the last fifty years and show how some women benefit more than others. Award-winning journalist Sherry Boschert beautifully explores the gripping history of Title IX through the gutsy people behind it.
In the tradition of the acclaimed documentary She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, 37 Words offers a crucial playbook for anyone who wants to understand how we got here and who is horrified by current attacks on women’s rights.
By prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded education, the 1972 legislation popularly known as Title IX profoundly changed the lives of women and girls in the United States, accelerating a movement for equal education in classrooms, on sports fields, and in all of campus life.
37 Words is the story of Title IX. Filled with rich characters—from Bernice Resnick Sandler, an early organizer for the law, to her trans grandchild—the story of Title IX is a legislative and legal drama with conflicts over regulations and challenges to the law. It’s also a human story about women denied opportunities, students struggling for an education free from sexual harassment, and activists defying sexist discrimination. These intersecting narratives of women seeking an education, playing sports, and wanting protection from sexual harassment and assault map gains and setbacks for feminism in the last fifty years and show how some women benefit more than others. Award-winning journalist Sherry Boschert beautifully explores the gripping history of Title IX through the gutsy people behind it.
In the tradition of the acclaimed documentary She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, 37 Words offers a crucial playbook for anyone who wants to understand how we got here and who is horrified by current attacks on women’s rights.
500 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 8, 2022
23 people are currently reading
2346 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 10, 2022
I adored this book. I devoured it. I'm making it sound like the most adrenaline-laced type of thriller one can find, but it is? This book is specific to the US, where we see the unfolding of Title IX, and as the synopsis says, it is an unfolding drama, where everything you read feels like the best type of documentary. I can not fathom how this woman could collect so much information but unfold it in the most linear and easy-to-follow way.
This is a book for academics and non-academics alike, where it touches on more than women and race and gender. It is fascinating, with short storylines unfolding, where you never get bored and exciting characters who make you concerned for them, rooting for them. It feels like a movie.
I need to own this and share this with friends. I think everyone must read this to know the history of one of the most significant movements in the world. Thank you Netgalley and The New Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
This is a book for academics and non-academics alike, where it touches on more than women and race and gender. It is fascinating, with short storylines unfolding, where you never get bored and exciting characters who make you concerned for them, rooting for them. It feels like a movie.
I need to own this and share this with friends. I think everyone must read this to know the history of one of the most significant movements in the world. Thank you Netgalley and The New Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
November 11, 2022
This book is well-written. And I’m still of the mindset that policy will never save us, nor do I think it should even be a piece of the puzzle on the vast majority of days. How did policy become our go to, be all, end all? Why are we so tied to it in so many ways? Why can’t we critique its use?? Oh yeah, cuz straight rich white dudes created it, with straight rich white women closely following suit. Sigh.
October 22, 2022
A very good although also very dense history of Title IX. At times, it gets a little bogged down in the legal issues but overall, does a great job showing the issues at play in the development and enforcement of this policy.
February 20, 2022
The history of Title IX is as frustrating as it is fascinating. On one hand i can't' believe how far we have come in the last half decade, but on the other it seems we still have a long way to go. 37 Words is a necessary compendium for anyone who needs or wants to delve deeper into the history of discrimination against women going back to the 1960's. I hope that the more that we talk about the stories of those who have lived this, the less common harassment and discrimination will become. I'm grateful to all the women and men who came before to fight for equal rights.
Thank you to The New Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to The New Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
January 26, 2024
I have read non-fiction history books before now. They have focused on subjects as diverse as the origin of a popular lexicography series, how humans deal with corpses, the fashion style called plaid to what happened when a certain volcano exploded, e.g. History can be dry stuff but, handled deftly, it can draw in the reader as well.
I will admit that I thought this book would take me at least a month to read. It’s filled with dates, political history (the election of certain presidents and Supreme Court judges, etc.) and social commentary. It adheres strictly to facts with little anecdotal inserts and there are copious notes in the back. However, it touches on very basic facets of humanity: sex and gender and how discrimination about them has factored into the lives of Americans.
It’s filled with historical figures who fought hard to ensure equality of sex, gender, race and culture. Women and men faced ridicule, censure, hatred, loss of employment and public outcry as they tried to educate people about Title IX. This federal legislation was ignored, overlooked, deliberately smothered or simply not presented to people. Students had no idea that their discrimination in terms of sports was something they could fight. They were uncertain after a sexual assault whether it was an assault and, if so, to whom they should report it. They often didn’t know that they could report it.
The book expounds on its topic in a way that makes you cringe, lights a slow-burning anger and forces you to take a sharper look at the world around you. Does your child’s school feature equal opportunity for girls in sports? Do the teachers teach girls and boys differently? Are black children more likely to face suspension for a fault while white children are let off with a warning? Just how often do cops stop black drivers as compared to white ones?
Title IX was a vague concept in my mind. But this book opened my eyes. It does what the best history lessons do—it creates a palpable bridge between what was, what is and what could be.
I will admit that I thought this book would take me at least a month to read. It’s filled with dates, political history (the election of certain presidents and Supreme Court judges, etc.) and social commentary. It adheres strictly to facts with little anecdotal inserts and there are copious notes in the back. However, it touches on very basic facets of humanity: sex and gender and how discrimination about them has factored into the lives of Americans.
It’s filled with historical figures who fought hard to ensure equality of sex, gender, race and culture. Women and men faced ridicule, censure, hatred, loss of employment and public outcry as they tried to educate people about Title IX. This federal legislation was ignored, overlooked, deliberately smothered or simply not presented to people. Students had no idea that their discrimination in terms of sports was something they could fight. They were uncertain after a sexual assault whether it was an assault and, if so, to whom they should report it. They often didn’t know that they could report it.
The book expounds on its topic in a way that makes you cringe, lights a slow-burning anger and forces you to take a sharper look at the world around you. Does your child’s school feature equal opportunity for girls in sports? Do the teachers teach girls and boys differently? Are black children more likely to face suspension for a fault while white children are let off with a warning? Just how often do cops stop black drivers as compared to white ones?
Title IX was a vague concept in my mind. But this book opened my eyes. It does what the best history lessons do—it creates a palpable bridge between what was, what is and what could be.
March 21, 2024
Thoughts:
*I picked up the book to learn about the history and development of Title IX law.
*Very well organized, by chronology and theme. You can pick up the flow of the book just by reading the table of contents. Trust me, not all history and law books are organized this well.
*First part of the book was background and substance. Tracking Bernice Sandler and Edith Green and the inception of Title IX. As someone who learned Title IX in Hawaii, helped me understand how Patsy Mink came to be considered the author of Title IX, too.
*Great discussion of case law and the back and forth struggle to implement Title IX.
*Transitions in to a discussion about Title IX and sexual harassment later. Moves into a more contemporary discussion about transgender identity and the impact of Title IX.
*Very personal. If you are interested in becoming an advocate on any social justice front, read the stories of the Title IX advocates (mostly female) involved here. Touching, heart-wrenching, how their struggles impacted their personal and professional lives and relationships. Boschert (the author) definitely takes the glamour out of the struggle.
*The back 50-100 pages can get argumentative and repetitive. But my goal of learning about the history of Title IX was achieved in the first 75% of the book.
*Would have been interested in the perspective of athletics directors and Title IX consultants as well. Implementation is about good intentions and there were a lot of bad actors in the story. Highly critical of universities and athletic departments. Some success stories (that is, voluntary Title IX compliance) would have been nice to see as a model for others.
*I picked up the book to learn about the history and development of Title IX law.
*Very well organized, by chronology and theme. You can pick up the flow of the book just by reading the table of contents. Trust me, not all history and law books are organized this well.
*First part of the book was background and substance. Tracking Bernice Sandler and Edith Green and the inception of Title IX. As someone who learned Title IX in Hawaii, helped me understand how Patsy Mink came to be considered the author of Title IX, too.
*Great discussion of case law and the back and forth struggle to implement Title IX.
*Transitions in to a discussion about Title IX and sexual harassment later. Moves into a more contemporary discussion about transgender identity and the impact of Title IX.
*Very personal. If you are interested in becoming an advocate on any social justice front, read the stories of the Title IX advocates (mostly female) involved here. Touching, heart-wrenching, how their struggles impacted their personal and professional lives and relationships. Boschert (the author) definitely takes the glamour out of the struggle.
*The back 50-100 pages can get argumentative and repetitive. But my goal of learning about the history of Title IX was achieved in the first 75% of the book.
*Would have been interested in the perspective of athletics directors and Title IX consultants as well. Implementation is about good intentions and there were a lot of bad actors in the story. Highly critical of universities and athletic departments. Some success stories (that is, voluntary Title IX compliance) would have been nice to see as a model for others.
July 11, 2022
"120 of 1,900 college men said they'd done things that met definitions of rape or attempted rape, and 63 percent of those said they did it more than once, with an average of six victims each."
This was the first in-depth book I've seen about Title IX, which I thought I'd known enough about--but clearly, I hadn't. I knew such a law and its subsequent guidelines would take a long time to be upheld, but I hadn't realized just how much Title IX affected women in so many different ways. Of course, I'd known about the "usual" suspects, of women's sports and on-campus rape, but I hadn't realized the history or the nefarious ways universities, colleges, and high schools would navigate the systems Title IX put in place.
I appreciated the discussion between Title IX and Affirmative Action, how even still there is an us/them divide that negatively impacts women of color.
This is a densely-packed book with plenty of pictures and resources/references. Over the course of my time reading it, I felt both refreshed and shocked. This is not necessarily an easy read, but a necessary one.
This was the first in-depth book I've seen about Title IX, which I thought I'd known enough about--but clearly, I hadn't. I knew such a law and its subsequent guidelines would take a long time to be upheld, but I hadn't realized just how much Title IX affected women in so many different ways. Of course, I'd known about the "usual" suspects, of women's sports and on-campus rape, but I hadn't realized the history or the nefarious ways universities, colleges, and high schools would navigate the systems Title IX put in place.
I appreciated the discussion between Title IX and Affirmative Action, how even still there is an us/them divide that negatively impacts women of color.
This is a densely-packed book with plenty of pictures and resources/references. Over the course of my time reading it, I felt both refreshed and shocked. This is not necessarily an easy read, but a necessary one.
January 28, 2023
This book is a very detailed, well-sourced look at the history and effects of a famous but not well-understood piece of legislation. While I was vaguely familiar with Title IX and its impacts on the landscape of sports, I learned a lot about the law's much wider reach and how some of my conceptions about how the law impacted athletics, specifically collegiate athletics, were misguided or flat-out false.
May 30, 2022
Even as someone extremely well-versed in Title IX, this book is incredibly informative and enlightening. The last chapter gives hope where it’s genuinely needed, as we come upon the 50th anniversary of Title IX’s passing on June 23rd. A good read for anyone - regardless of whether you’re in education, college athletics, or anything else.
August 6, 2023
My favourite non fiction this year. Sherry takes you through the legislative struggle of getting Title IX passed and the impact and reaction over time to the present. This law has had one of the biggest impacts on my life. The book takes you through to 2021. A must read!
September 15, 2022
I think that it was very informative and not told in a boring manner.
December 30, 2022
love the subtle shout-out to Pauli Murray, Shirley Chisholm and RBG.
good luck
good luck
April 5, 2023
Really informative. Extremely readable. Jam-packed with information.
Should be a MUST-READ for anyone who cares about equality/equity/civil rights...
Should be a MUST-READ for anyone who cares about equality/equity/civil rights...
December 3, 2025
read for my sports history class — very interesting
May 16, 2022
Essential Reading for Anyone Addressing Sex-Discrimination in Education
37 Words tells the essential history of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the landmark law prohibiting sex-discrimination in federally funded education programs in the United States. Told through the perspective of the people who lived it this immersive history begins with the law’s original proponents for equal access to employment opportunities and to academic programs for women and girls. Consolidating diverse stories over five decades 37 Words explores how the potential of Title IX has been expanded to address athletics, sexual harassment including sexual assault, and gender-identity. If you work with any of these issues this is essential reading.
37 Words tells the essential history of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the landmark law prohibiting sex-discrimination in federally funded education programs in the United States. Told through the perspective of the people who lived it this immersive history begins with the law’s original proponents for equal access to employment opportunities and to academic programs for women and girls. Consolidating diverse stories over five decades 37 Words explores how the potential of Title IX has been expanded to address athletics, sexual harassment including sexual assault, and gender-identity. If you work with any of these issues this is essential reading.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews