WAKE UP THE MASSES!!! This is Something Clever.
Sports news is now mainstream news once again. Right before Monday Night Football this week, allegations surfaced about a Mexican female reporter being sexually harassed in the New York Jet's locker room. The reporter, Ines Sainz, was there to interview Mexican-American quarterback Mark Sanchez before their game against the Baltimore Ravens.
The Ravens won 10-9, by the way. Go birds. Moving on…
This entire situation is getting more attention than King Size Snickers at a Weight Watchers meeting. It’s on ESPN, NFL Network, Fox News, CNN, Good Morning America and those are just the ones that I remember. At this point, about 3 or 4 days after the “incident”, all of the facts, assumptions, rumors and lies have come together to form this big clusterbunch of fail. So, before we get into this unintentional battle of the sexes, let's recap what we KNOW has transpired:
Ines Sainz is a blindingly attractive sports reporter from a Mexican station called TV Azteca.
Drink it in.
Anuyway, she was at the New Meadowlands in New Jersey to interview Mark Sanchez. Some say she was dressed too sexy. I’ll let you be the judge:
Not exactly dressed like a nun, but not exactly a bus station skank either. Let’s move on.
So during practice, Sanchez was throwing the ball into the corner where Sainz was standing, so that receivers catching the ball would have a reason to go talk to her. So receivers would make daring catches, roll to the ground then get up dramatically to get Sainz attention. I saw the videos of this, and it looked pretty harmless. After practice, Sainz went into the Jet's locker room to interview Sanchez. This is where it gets interesting. At least one other reporter has said that players in the locker room were making cat calls and derogatory comments about Sainz as she tried to interview Sanchez. Sainz herself tweeted that she was “embarrassed” in the locker room. She finished the interview and left. As soon as the allegations came out, the NFL and the Jet's front office were launching an investigation into what actually happened.
The aftermath of the incident has been dominated by propaganda and opinion. I’m not interested in what people THINK happened in that locker room. None of us were there. So based on what I know, here’s my two cents on Sainz, the Jets, the allegations and female sports reporters in general.
First things first: Sainz was NOT the one that said she was sexually harassed. In fact, she came forward on more than one news show to say that she did NOT feel harassed by any of the players. She heard from another female reporter that the men were making cat calls and sexual references towards her. Even with that information, she has not petitioned the NFL or the Jets to do any investigation into the situation. She says that whatever conclusion the NFL comes to, whether they decide that it was, or was not, sexual harassment, she is ok with that. Also, she is not seeking any type of legal action against the team or the league. So, to me, she doesn’t appear to be a victim, but she doesn’t seem to be trying to pin allegations on anyone either.
So, that explanation covers that specific incident. But the bigger issue seems to be women in sports news in general. Since this has happened, media outlets can’t seem to stop talking about the struggles of women in the media. And I wish every one of them would shut up and stop whining.
Before you grab your pitchforks, hear me out.
I’m not saying that everything is just great for female reporters, especially in the NFL. This is a man’s world. Women have to struggle to get things that men don’t have to work so hard at. There are plenty of female sideline reporters who needed a master’s degree, 5 years of local news, an article printed in Sports Illustrated and a good word from 10 respected news anchors before anyone even gave her a shot. Meanwhile, the rule seems to be that if you’re a man and you played in the NFL for at least 3 years, you can be a sports reporter. It’s not fair at all. The thing that irritates me is the women who want to make everything personal. I’m seeing all of these women’s organizations fighting to some to the “aid” of this poor defenseless woman, brutally harassed by those monstrous NFL players. Give me a break. Every time I see these women on TV, they not only attack the men that they think are responsible, they attack MEN, period. I‘m not cool with that. By the time one of those interviews is finished, they have you thinking that looking at a woman for more than 2 seconds is sexual harassment. Really? That’s what’s going on? Listen up. I’m not a New York Jet. I’m not Clinton Portis on the radio, making off-color remarks. I’m just an average guy. Stop grouping me in with these other people you don’t know based stuff you heard they’ve done.
I WISH I had time to discuss Clinton Portis. But that’s gotta wait for another time.
On the flip side of that, there’s another group of women that say that the whole incident is Sainz fault. They say that because she wears provocative clothing and takes racy photos, she is inviting men to harass her. For anyone who thinks like this, I invite you to go kick rocks, then play in traffic. No woman, no matter how she is dressed, is asking to be sexually harassed. I’ll be the first to admit that some women dress in a way that is going to get them unwanted attention, whether they like it or not. There’s nothing I can do about that. But that doesn’t mean she DESERVES it. Plenty of things happen that don’t need to happen, and there is a big difference between it probably WOULD happen and it probably SHOULD happen. I remember when a female writer suggested that ESPN Reporter Erin Andrews shouldn’t be surprised that she was stalked and privately videotaped by a pervert in a hotel room because she dressed too sexy to be taken seriously. Yeah, I’m talking about you, Christine Brennan. I’m sorry; did you just say someone deserved to be stalked? Yeah, that’s asinine. Either you’re a tactless idiot, or you're jealous of her because, let’s face it, Erin Andrews got it on LOCK. Either way, you should be ashamed.
Now let me be clear: There are plenty of female reporters who use their…assets…to get attention. Ines Sainz seems to be pretty up front about using her beauty to get what she wants. How many times have we seen female sports reporters in FHM or Maxim? Jill Arrington, Jillian Reynolds, Lisa Guerrero, Leann Tweeden, Jenn Sterger and Jenn Brown, just to name a few. Do I have a problem with them? Absolutely not! There is nothing wrong with thinking that girls are hot. They took pictures in swimsuits because they think they’re attractive, and I can’t help but agree. No man (or woman…I don’t judge) should feel bad about looking at an attractive female. You dressed that way, because you want to look good, and probably because you’d like people like me to notice that you look good. Mission accomplished.
Now I'm sure these women understand that because they dress a certain way, they're going to attract male attention. That can't be helped. You can't complain about being gawked at when you wear clothing designed to get people to gawk at you. But whether guys are staring at the backfield in motion or not, that's not even the point. The point is, these women are also really good at their job. Who am I to say that Sainz or anyone else isn’t a good reporter because she’s ridiculously good looking? Now of course, there are plenty of other female reporters who DON’T do sexy photoshoots or model in bikinis -- Lindsay Soto, Alex Flanagan, Melissa Stark, Reschia Candidate and Hannah Storm come to mind. You know what? They’re good at their jobs too. Are they better because they don’t show skin? NO! And it’s stupid to think so. To each his own. Stop judging these girls.
For the record, I happen to think that Lindsay Soto is WAY better than Jill Arrington (in both the beauty AND brains categories) and I’ve seen WAY more of Jill Arrington!
OK, at this point, I’m rambling, so let’s try to wrap this up. I was raised to believe women are beautiful creatures. And that’s exactly what I believe. That being said, I was also raised to believe that you never, EVER disrespect a lady. Maybe there were cat calls and sexual comments in the Jet’s locker room, maybe there weren’t. I wasn’t there. But here’s what I think:
1. Sexual harassment is never OK.
2. Looking at a woman is not sexual harassment.
3. We shouldn’t be judging what men did or didn’t do based on hearsay.
4. The way a woman dresses should not be a way of determining if she brought the harassment on herself.
5. Some reporters are hot. Some are informative. Some are both. I love them all!
6. Some folks need to mind their own dang business.
Is everyone sufficiently offended? Awesome. See you Friday.
This in no way changes the fact that I think Erin Andrews is a TEN. Her hotness is like a shimmering jet engine.
Watts
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