Has anyone seen this article on the Latina news reporter for TV Azteca, Ines Sainz? The article pertains really well to idea that men objectify women in terms of their body, or see parts of women's bodies as a representation of the whole. What allegedly happened was, Ines Sainz had to interview Jets player Mark Sanchez in the Jets locker room and, upon waiting for him, got catcalls in her direction from the other Jets players as well as digs from them on her "bilingual abilities". She tweeted while waiting for Sanchez, “I’m dying of embarrassment! I am in the lockers of jets waiting for Mark Sanchez and while trying not to look to nowhere!” and again two minutes later, "Why is this the only way to do a pre-match interview for Monday! But too many male hormones in the environment!” The comments were so bad, she said, that she even had to cover her ears.
Not only did I think this event was interesting, and to say the least degrading, but also Clinton Portis's response, posted below.
Essentially, Portis conveyed the message that if Sainz did not want to be catcalled at, she shouldn't have been in the locker room in the first place He states "you put a woman and you give her a choice of 53 athletes, somebody got to be appealing to her. You know, somebody got to spark her interest, or she's gonna want somebody. I don't know what kind of woman won't, if you get to go and look at 53 men's packages." As if simply putting an attractive woman near or in the same environment as 53 men would mean she would become sexually aroused for at least one of them. I mean, she was there for a news report. This guy seems to be saying that there was clearly an underlying reason she wanted to be in the Jets locker room other than to interview Sanchez and do her job. To me, it sounds like the harassment was uninvited and that by simply being an attractive woman doesn't mean one should expect degrading comments from men.
It also speaks to how difficult it is for female sportscasters, where the culture seems to "require" these locker room visits. So aside from this experience, it is also about changing the culture of industries that are made --and kept--as the purview of men.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late response! I thought I posted this a month ago, but I guess I forgot to upload my response.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, to further the controversy of this debacle, the NFL analyst Brian Baldinger made some statements that essentially suggested that Sainz was asking to be sexually harassed because of the clothes she was wearing. He argued that “If you come into the NFL dressed the way that she is dressed you are just asking for it. I don't know how you can justify any of the actions. Boys will be boys”, highlighting her “painted on jeans” and her “shirt that is just glued to her body”. In short, he concludes that “she is just inviting it all upon herself in this case."
I don’t know how many times and in how many situations the excuse that “boys will be boys” has been brought up to excuse the perpetrator of sexual harassment while the subject of sexual harassment and her “provocative clothing” is held accountable. I think this experience highlights a significant need to change the dialogue surrounding sexual harassment to remove the stigma associated with subjects of sexual harassment.
Wow, that is really sad and unfortunate. Especially that she didnt get any support and it seems like another repetition of blaming the victim. Even though it very typical and not out of character in anyway for men to get away with shit like that, it still always shacks me that its so pervasive that people believe a woman would be "asking for it". its also just crazy logic that these men are using. wtf does the fact tha she could potentially be attracted to one the guys have anything to do with the fact that they were sexually harrassing her?? that has no relevance to each other. since when was catcalling an actual tactic for picking someone up or expressing honest attraction? as far as i can tell its just a method for exerting control.
ReplyDeletesomething that is kind of great about this is that she felt like she could reach out, even though a lot of the responses were negative. she felt validated enough to tweet about it and let people know what was going on.
anyways,on a different note, it also makes me wonder why no one seems to think that a locker room with 53 men, that are apparently so attractive she would have to want at least one of them, isnt homoerotic?