Commentary: 50 years later, Title IX gains are fragile. And there’s much more work to do in the next 50 years.

The 50th anniversary of Title IX is a chance not only to celebrate the girls and women who compete in today’s world, but also to acknowledge that we are on a long journey.

The gains are elusive if not appreciated and recognized as a foundation for what comes next. We girls, no matter where we are in life, must support and help one another to keep this going.

I was a tomboy before it was fashionable and, fortunately, had parents who encouraged me when school offered nothing. In the pre-Title IX days, I had a scholarship to the University of Missouri from the Missouri Girls Golf Association and played intercollegiate golf, softball and basketball when the university’s contribution to uniforms was to buy us shirts and we did the rest. Bitter still? Maybe just a little.

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As a WNBA fan in general and a Chicago Sky fan in particular, I am so happy to see young fans at games. There’s a saying that you have to see it to be it. It matters that WNBA athletes embrace a leadership role and know that young people — boys and girls — are watching as they model success and civic responsibility. That is also the case for our local college teams. I feel so blessed to have had sports be such a big part of my life. Sports have greatly enriched my career and my life.

Yes, there is progress, but it has been difficult. There is a tendency for the change resisters to conflate issues and people, lashing out at the women they resent for what is happening. If only, they think. Their resistance to change can be ugly and personal. That was true 50 years ago and throughout my journalism career. Even if things are better now, that strain still surfaces.

Women in sports media still have to deal with things that are amplified by the nastiness of social media trolls. Women talk about microaggressions, as if they feel that somehow they might be overreacting. Uh, no. Those slights are significant, just as they are in other arenas where diversity is playing out.

We all benefit as the young women who grew up under Title IX prosper now. Title IX has always been about more than sports. We need to support women and realize that it’s still tough.

As part of its coverage of Title IX’s impact, The Associated Press recently conducted a poll in partnership with the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the National Women’s History Museum. The AP reported that 61% of men say the country has made a great deal or a lot of progress toward gender equality, while only 37% of women said the same.

On a continuum, we have made significant progress from the early days of Title IX, and that’s good. But the gains are fragile, and there is more to do in the next 50 years.

Holt was the first female sports editor at the Chicago Tribune from 1993-95. The former standards editor, she left the Tribune in January 2022.