Okay, so this is what happened, as reported in USA Today:
Ines Sainz, a Mexican TV reporter, is at the center of an alleged harassment controversy with the New York Jets. At practice on Saturday, Sainz said the Jets were deliberately throwing footballs to players in her direction, but couldn't definitively say whether the Jets' conduct crossed a line that would warrant discipline.
"I personally believe that if (NFL security) find that (Jets players) are very aggressive in the way they speak about me, yes they deserve (punishment)," Sainz said in an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America. "But I'm not sure it happened." When she went into the team's locker room to interview QB Mark Sanchez, who has Mexican heritage, she said she heard comments from players such as "Oh my goodness she's here," and "OK, I want to be Mexican." Sainz originally sent out a Twitter message saying she was embarrassed. On ABC, Sainz, who said she's a nine-year veteran as a reporter, added that she had received similar treatment in the past but "nothing as strong as this."
So my question is this, do YOU think she was unduly harassed or treated unprofessionally?
I don't. In fact, I think this woman is a joke and an embarrassment to both her profession and to all of the women who have worked hard to get equal treatment in journalism. Once again there is no personal accountability here and "rights" are in conflict with COMMON SENSE (which unfortunately is not so common anymore).
Her style of dress is meant to evoke a certain response from men so how can she complain when she received the exact response she was going for? If she was embarrassed because her target audience decided to pay attention to the show she was putting on then perhaps she ought to have selected a different wardrobe for this particular venue. These players did not come into the reporters lounge heckling and making comments, they were in their own space, doing their own thing, which in case nobody noticed is a highly charged, testosterone laced setting. As I recall, male reporters aren't even allowed into the locker rooms at women's sporting events, much less male reporters in Speedos, right?
Sure, she has a legal right to wear whatever the heck she pleases, just like I have a right to leave my purse open on the sidewalk in front of a group of drug addicts, or take a casual hike along the Iranian border, but that does not make it the correct or intelligent thing to do. This is why professional businesses have done away with "Casual Friday's" and both schools and offices have dress codes, because there is always some idiot who acts like they "didn't get the memo".
It annoys me when the gains made by thousands of professional, intelligent women are undercut by the provocative, unprofessionalism of a single pin-up girl. Women fought hard to get past the male dominated barrier in sports reporting, which makes it all the more frustrating when some so-called professional thrusts her unnecessary sexual energy into the mix. And although I applaud the Jets for speaking up on her behalf and admonishing their players for what they deem to be inappropriate behavior, I think anything more than a general team chat about good manners and behaving themselves is both unwarranted and unnecessary. And besides, maybe it wasn't THE PLAYERS doing the harassing afterall, perhaps she is the guilty party...hmmmm, just a thought.
But, that's just MY opinion, what's yours?
Danine Manette
Ultimate Betrayal
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