This.
You might want to think twice about using the word “whore” to describe a woman who’s been harrassed.
I’ll admit her clothes and her behavior aren’t the most professional. Jemele Hill had a more thoughtful discussion of this on ESPN’s site. That said, control-z, the players fucked up. It’s not hard to comprehend this. Their reported behavior was just plain stupid. Even if you see a woman who you think is dressed inappropriately, you don’t cross that line if you’re in a workplace situation.
So reporters could wear clown suits and they should still expect professional and focused responses?
Probably. But it lessens their responsibility and increases hers.
She put them in that situation. They should probably have risen above it.
But I’m not even sure about that. If she has willingly engaged in hijinks of the type described in the linked article, I think the players might have some justification in assuming that type of thing is part of the way she deals.
If they would ask me I would say better safe than sorry. But from her perspective, you can’t have it both ways.
[Re the link, I don’t know what he means by saying: “It isn’t fair, but female sports journalists have to adhere to unspoken rules that our male counterparts never have to consider.” For male reporters this issue is off the table. No man has the option of attracting (favorable) sexual attention to himself, so they don’t. Women have the option of doing so or not. If they chose to go that route, I don’t see that they have much complaint about the natural outcome.]
Or, at the very least, every man in the place would regard her with the same level of oh-no-not-you-again contempt that they would a male journalist. I’ve been in my fair share of locker rooms, and we’re all pretty much pests to them.
Have you ever heard the phrase “when you get into a hole, stop digging?” She wasn’t wearing a clown suit. She was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. They were tight but it wasn’t scandalous. You can see a picture here.
So far it seems like you’re determined to blame this on everything except the players involved. First it was their raging hormones, then it was that she was invading their privacy by going into the locker room during designated media hours, now it’s her clothes. It’s not asking too much of the players to hold themselves to the same standard that men in jobs around the country are asked to hold themselves to.
If she’d been interviewing and flirting with them, that’d be one thing. But from what I’ve read, she was watching practice and the coaches started tossing footballs in her direction so the players could get an eyefull. She was in the locker room to talk to Sanchez and other players started making inappropriate comments. So I don’t know how much her own behavior would be.
The author is a woman.
Men can’t attract favorable sexual attention to themselves? I had no idea. But the opposite situation could certainly happen since women do play sports and men sometimes report on those sports. But I believe Hill is saying that if the Jets had started harrassing a male reporter, there would probably not be a debate about whether or not it was the reporter’s fault.
I’m enjoying the exercise and I want to make it to China. 
I don’t disagree that the players are responsible for their actions. Period.
But beyond that, I think her being in the locker room, style of dress, and past antics being carried around by players and feeling their biceps (per your linked article) are certainly contributing factors to the way she is perceived and treated. She knows she’s attractive, and she seems to be flirty. Put off sexual vibes, receive sexual attention. That’s biology.
Biology doesn’t make guys yell things. I think that if her station encourages female reporters to dress that way and be flirty, it does contribute to the reporters not being taken as seriously. But so far nobody has said she was doing anything like that at the Jets practice and I question whether her reputation really played any role in what happened, as opposed to the fact that she’s just attractive. And her being in the locker room is still a non-issue. The team was fooling around outside the locker room, too, and everybody in the NFL knows reporters of both sexes get to come into the locker room to talk to the players at set times.
But if she dressed in a risque manner, and if her past behaviour suggests that she likes to combine some amount of flirting with her work, then she blurred the lines.
It’s generally not going to happen when covering male sports.
Because there wouldn’t have been much question over whether it was due to his own actions.
But imagine if a male reporter covered female sports. And suppose that guy acted in a manner designed to attract female sexual attention to himself. I don’t think he would get any symphathy at all if the women reacted in the way the Jets did.
It sometimes makes them want to. At that point, they need self-control and judgment to hold back. But if they don’t, biology is a big part of the picture.
That’s exactly what Hill says, and I think she’s right.
It probably wouldn’t, yes. Which doesn’t mean that it can’t happen.
If he felt he was being harrassed? I’m not sure about that. But I can’t know.
I’m just not buying this. If you’re arguing sexual attraction is biological, then sure it is. But sexual attraction by itself does not lead directly to yelling at people and the kind of juvenile stuff the Jets are supposed to have pulled. Not in adults, at least. One player is also supposed to have yelled at Sainz “This is our locker room!” meaning ‘you don’t belong here.’ That’s not a biology and sexual attraction thing.
I disagree (in that it makes some people want to. Maybe not you, but a lot of other people.)
Sounds right. Needs more context, though.
Maybe they just aren’t happy with women in the locker room, that seems to be the root of the problem. Maybe that whole policy needs be examined.
No matter how much people try to deny or fight it, men and and women are different and can’t always be treated exactly the same.
You know, I work in a field that is heavily dominated by men. It’s not uncommon I’m the only woman on job site. To some extent a woman needs to develop some thicker skin. I’m not at all saying she needs to tolerate everything but men talk about women and sex amongst themselves pretty frequently. It’s unreasonable for a woman to come to a situation that is all male and expect that sort of conversation to stop cold. I don’t know what supposedly said or not in the situation that started this controversy, until I do I find it hard to judge if they were truly offensive or not.
That aside - men DO look at women. Despite being dressed in very unsexy work boots, stained jeans, and loose t-shirts or flannel, my hair tied up and, for really nasty work, safety goggles and other even more unsexy safety equipment, I do occasionally notice male co-workers looking at my ass or tits. As long as they aren’t too obnoxious about it, or better yet don’t say anything to me about it, I don’t really give a damn. It’s normal male behavior. They can look and still be gentlemen.
Now, if I made a point in dressing in very tight work clothes, or wearing shirts with a lot of cleavage, I’m not helping the situation at all. A gentleman would avoid comment, of course, but not all men are gentlemen, and some professional sports players are also quite young and thus not as experienced or polished as even a 25 year old man. If you’re going into a male locker room then I think it’s reasonable to expect a female reporter to dress in attire that, while feminine, is not overly revealing and for her to be strictly business - avoid flirting or sexual innuendo while on the clock. It makes it much easier for everyone to keep proper boundaries intact. On top of that, I think the women who adhere to those guidelines will find that respect is much more forthcoming from the men. In my experience men are much happier when the distinction between business and fun is kept sharp and clear and far more likely to conduct themselves in a respectful manner.
Likewise, I’d expect a male reporter in a female locker room to be model of decorum and a proper gentleman - and women to be disciplined for making rude comments towards him, just as the reverse is true for male athletes regarding female reporters.
I also think that some of the male athletes may, in fact, be uncomfortable with a woman in the locker room, though they may be reluctant to admit it. Crude humor is a coping mechanism. This is yet another reason to have clear codes of dress and conduct for reporters of the opposite gender in a locker room. Some rules regarding politeness, expectations, and proper conduct will smooth over some of this and make proper behavior much easier for everyone.
I think we’ve already explained why the policy is not going to change. You can’t discriminate that way today. If the NFL barred women from its locker rooms, they would be preventing the female reporters from doing their jobs. They would be sued in a heartbeat and they’d lose, and the press coverage would be abominable. And let’s not forget that the NFL is trying to reach out to female fans these days - a task that people like Ben Roethlisberger are not making any easier.
In any case, if the Jets don’t like the policy, why were they taunting Sainz when everyone was on the practice field? Is she not supposed to be there either? And if your theory is correct, why were Sainz at all? She’s not the first female reporter to walk into the Jets’ locker room.
Of course they’re different. But it’s not that difficult to treat people respectfully regardless of sex.
I basically agree with everything that’s been said about not tolerating sexual harassment or double standards, but this…
…I just can’t agree with that. You’ve totally absolved her of any responsibility for how others view her. We’ve all seen the photos of her in the super tight jeans…those pictures were taken of her at work. She woke up that morning, painted on her pants, looked in the mirror and said “Yep, this is just fine for work.” She may claim it’s simply her “style,” but I think her “style” is calculated to draw maximum attention to herself, especially from men. It’s unprofessional attire, and it undermines the claim that she deserves to be taken seriously. I agree with Jemele Hill; I think her attire and her behavior blurred the boundaries of a proper journalistic relationship that any good reporter should strive for and invited an unwanted response.
I admit that I don’t have much sympathy for most female sports reporters anyway, because if they’re on TV they’re almost universally gorgeous and have their job primarily because they’re eye candy for a predominately male audience (honestly, when was the last time you got groundbreaking analysis from any sideline reporter, let alone a female sideline reporter?). But I’ll also admit that I don’t know how careers in television news really work. Are these women choosing to work as sports reporters, or is it simply a matter of the networks assigning them to cover sports? If they wanted to be legit reporters, and network bosses are steering them towards sports solely for their sex appeal, then I have a little more sympathy for them.
In any workplace, if there is someone who is dressed inapprpriately then the proper response is to take it up with the management, not to harrass a fellow employee. As far as I know there are no dress codes for being a reporter, but I wonder if the NFL could enforce a gender-neutral dress code for reporters, something like business casual or better is appropriate.
The NFL can have a dress code for NFL employees, but that’s probably it. I don’t think they would want to annoy TV stations and newspapers by telling their reporters how to dress. And I don’t think they’d want to go to the trouble of enforcing one either.
Well the first question I have is could they legally enforce such a code. I would think they could as long as it was done in a non-discriminatory manner. Now, suppose Inez Sainz wanted to do her job in a thong bikini, would the Jets have been required to let her in to do her job? I am not asking about how players should react, clearly thhey shouldn’t act like assholes, but would the Jets be out of line if they didn’t allow her in in the ffirst place?
I’m of the opinion that no reporters, male or female, should be allowed in the locker room, full stop. It’s ridiculous that part of the job description of an athlete is having a microphone shoved in your face while you’re naked.
There’s no reason the reporters need to be in there. The inane questions and Crash-Davis-approved cliche responses can wait until everyone has had a chance to shower and change.
“How you doin’?”