Paying Tribute to a College Sports Hero
Margot Polivy fought to ensure that the government offered women equal opportunities in college athletics. She died on October 7.
ALSO IN THIS POST…
The challenge of navigating body image and food culture in India.
Everything you need to know about WOMEN MONEY POWER, the book.
When I sat down to write WOMEN MONEY POWER, my upcoming book, one of my core aims was to pay tribute to the unsung heroes of female economic empowerment: the women who effected enormous change and progress, but whose names are not widely cited in history books and on academic syllabuses.
But with that mission came a huge challenges: who to include. It was decision that was almost impossible to make. Once I started researching and reporting, I realized just how many individuals hadn’t had the fame and attention they deserve. History’s invisible and remarkable women are, indeed, countless. Entire libraries of books could be published about them.
One woman who I wish I’d had the scope and capacity to write about extensively, is Margot Polivy, a pioneering lawyer who played a pivotal role in the enactment and enforcement of Title IX, the all-important legislation of the 1970s that extended opportunities to women in college sports. Polivy died earlier this month at the age of 85.
Born on April 25, 1938, in the Bronx, Polivy earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Hunter College. She worked as a gym teacher at Hunter College High School. In 1964, obtained a law degree from New York University School of Law.
After NYU, she was hired as an associate counsel by the Federal Communications Commission. In that capacity she oversaw the fairness doctrine which required equal broadcast time for political candidates. Between 1971 and 1972, Polivy worked for Representative Bella Abzug of New York in Washington. Later, she started her own law firm which was engaged by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women.
As the New York Times reports, in the 1970s, Polivy “fought the male-dominated National Collegiate Athletic Association and helped transform the ambiguous wording of congressional anti-discrimination mandates, which had made no specific mention of sports, into a Hail Mary pass that profoundly expanded the resources available to female athletes in high school and college.”
One of my favorite anecdotes about Polivy is that, when working in Washington, she was not given a desk at which to work. Undeterred, she wrote the draft legislation on a piece of paper, resting on the back of Representative Shirley Chisholm, a Brooklyn Democrat who was also the first African American woman in Congress and the first woman and African American to seek the nomination for U.S. president from one of the two major political parties.
Polivy’s achievements are too vast and interesting to sum up in a few short sentences, so I’d urge you to read her obituaries in the Times and The Washington Post and elsewhere, as well as this fascinating article she herself penned in 1978.
And here’s a great video of a 2015 interview with her:
Culture, Food and Body Image
Elsewhere this week, I enjoyed this thoughtful and well-crafted opinion piece by Pragya Agarwal in the Guardian about why so many Indian women struggle with their body image and the unique and enduring cultural factors that underpin and complicate this.
Agarwal powerfully spells out a conflict that she had grapples: India’s deep and entrenched appreciation for food, which often awkwardly co-exists alongside the stubborn norms and beauty ideals that still unflinchingly dictate what a woman’s body should look like in order to be considered attractive.
Agarwal writes:
“In India, like many other south Asian countries, food plays a huge role in families and in social situations. I value and appreciate the closeness that food brings, and I love – and miss – this about Indian culture. Growing up in India, I was very aware of the paradox of life revolving around food alongside a huge focus on women’s bodies and weight. Recent visits have shown me that this has not changed much, especially in bigger towns and cities.
“Often when I visit India, the first comment I receive from relatives is about whether I have gained or lost weight. Within a traditionally collectivist society such as India, where what people say matters, it has always been acceptable to comment on people’s bodies.”
I particularly appreciate that Agarwal notes that disordered eating often goes unnoticed “because a slim body is so desirable.” As someone who spent a decade battling eating disorders, I always appreciate nuanced perspectives on a topic that is so vast, so complex, and so frequently written about in sweeping terms.
Too often, I still encounter narratives implying that anorexia and other eating disorders are a product of vanity, or a symptom of an underlying weakness or frailty. So I applaud writing that shines a light on the truth; namely, that disordered eating can develop for any number of reasons: societal pressures, cultural forces, interpersonal dynamics, trauma, or something entirely different to any of the above.
As Agarwal points out, awareness of these conditions is continuing to grow globally, but bias, ignorance and arrogance remain persistent.
WOMEN MONEY POWER: The Book
And finally, in case you haven’t heard, WOMEN MONEY POWER, is now available for pre-order ahead of publication in March 2024.
I’m thrilled that Lisa Napoli, the author of SUSAN, LINDA, NINA & COKIE, a book about the four pioneering women of public radio and their unique and enduring friendship, has described it as “compelling” and “deftly researched.”
Everything you’ve been told about pre-orders is true: they’re extremely important for any book, and they can hugely influence chances of making bestseller lists, which of course, is a big deal. All of that is to say, if you like what you’ve been reading here, if you care about female economic empowerment, if you—as a champion of gender equality—want to learn more about the giants upon whose shoulders we (often unknowingly) stand, then please consider putting in your order.
You can do so through my publisher’s website here, Barnes & Noble here, Bookshop.org here, Thriftbooks here. Other retailers are, of course, available too and get in touch if you’re ordering from abroad or if you’d like a discount for bulk orders!
I’m already getting some great inquiries for speaking gigs: book talks, signings, workshops, fireside chats, and panel discussions—especially related to Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day 2024.
Please get in touch if you’re interested in collaborating. I’d love to visit your local bookstore, company, school, campus, affinity group, or other event. I can’t wait to share what I feel like I’ve spent my entire life working on!
Three Others Things I’m Reading…
More than 100 women sue Boston doctor alleging they were sexually assaulted during exams (NBC News)
More than a third of women under 50 are iron-deficient (The New York Time)
FDA is thinking about a ban on hair-straightening chemicals. Stylists say Black women have moved on (AP)
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