Alledged Sexual Harrassment complaint on jets, followed by Clinton Portis comments

[DaemonSeid]

Yet another age old issue of a woman trying to do her job and then to add insult to injury, someone who wasn't even there speaks his mind only to 'apologize' for it later.



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Bears vs Colts Super Bowl

Now while I agree that a person has a right to wear what they want to wear without fear of backlash, I am ALSO a fan of, "You get what you give."

Also, that is why there are dress codes.

And while this story may be new to some people, this isn't the first time that she has been called out for her outfits while 'reporting' NFL news and also she really isn't a 'competant' NFL reporter.

And Clinton Portis...STFU...idiot.


A sampling of reporting and opinion from around the Web regarding Ines Sainz, the TV Azteca television reporter who was reportedly sexually harassed by the Jets at practice on Saturday:

Sainz did not initially lodge a complaint against the Jets. Her cause was taken up by at least one reporter on the scene, and the N.F.L. is investigating.

The Jets’ owner, Woody Johnson, apologized, and the apology was accepted.

Jets Coach Rex Ryan said the team was open to sensitivity training.

Redskins running back Clinton Portis restarted the controversy with remarks in a weekly radio appearance on 106.7 The Fan, which serves the Washington area:

“I think you put women reporters in the locker room in position to see guys walking around naked, and you sit in the locker room with 53 guys, and all of the sudden you see a nice woman in the locker room. I think men are going to tend to turn and look and want to say something to that woman.”

“You know, somebody got to spark her interest, or she’s going to want somebody.”


The N.F.L. and the Redskins condemned Portis’s remarks, and Portis later apologized.

“The comments are clearly inappropriate, offensive and have no place in the NFL,” league spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement. “We have contacted the Redskins and they will discuss the matter directly with Mr. Portis.”

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports said the league had made little progress in dealing with sexism:

That Clinton Portis of the Washington Redskins has spent nine seasons in the NFL and still assumes that female reporters are eager to look at the players’ “packages” speaks to an ignorance and an arrogance that still, sadly, permeates the league.

Does Ryan need to run a tighter ship?

Tim Dahlberg of The Associated Press says the Jets have been undisciplined on the field and off:

The New York Jets will soon get together to learn how to act like real men in a locker room where frat boy hilarity apparently reigns.

After Monday night’s debacle against Baltimore at the $1.6 billion New Meadowlands Stadium, it may be time to teach the team’s offense a few new tricks, too. Acting like real football players would be a good start.

Tara Sullivan of The Record of Bergen County says the Jets need to understand that it’s her workplace, too.

She expressed disappointment that at least two members of the Jets’ public relations staff reportedly did not stop what was said to be catcalls directed at Sainz in the locker room. She also quoted the Giants’ Mathias Kiwanuka as saying, “The guys the Giants would bring into the organization wouldn’t behave like that and that’s the biggest difference.”

Eric Deggans of the National Sports Journalism Center says there is a worthwhile debate to be had about how television networks sell the sex appeal of some of their sideline reporters. But, he said, that issue would have to wait for another day — it shouldn’t be confused with the problem of workplace harassment.

No matter how provocatively a woman is dressed, she never invites sexual assault or harassment.
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[FSUZeta]

she does not look like a professional reporter. i don't agree with her being harassed, but she needs to get a clue. yesterday afternoon i began hearing a different story from her. she was saying that the boys were just joking and they weren't harassing her, just making jokes and that it was another female reporter who was offended and made the initial complaint.

i think the nfl, nba,etc. just need to ban all reporters from the locker room. they can't just ban women, so it will have to be a mass ban.

frankly, the network she works for seems to be promoting her as a sex object/centerfold, and that's just wrong.

[VandalSquirrel]

I don't care what gender someone is, I don't want strangers with recording devices in my area when i'm changing, bathing, and coming off a win or loss. I don't particularly find her outfits appropriate for a journalist, and she wouldn't be allowed to wear that ensemble if she worked in my office either. The heels are questionable, the cleavage and bare midriff are out, and the pants are way too tight as well as being light hued denim.

What is wrong with a reception area where the media can kick it and let people show up when they are clean and respect the privacy of the rest of the team?

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

she does not look like a professional reporter. i don't agree with her being harassed, but she needs to get a clue. yesterday afternoon i began hearing a different story from her. she was saying that the boys were just joking and they weren't harassing her, just making jokes and that it was another female reporter who was offended and made the initial complaint.

i think the nfl, nba,etc. just need to ban all reporters from the locker room. they can't just ban women, so it will have to be a mass ban.

frankly, the network she works for seems to be promoting her as a sex object/centerfold, and that's just wrong.

Right.

My question too is, is she allowing this? because again, she doesn't strike me as a credible journalist (if I remember she asked Tom Brady how he plans on beating the Jets in the Super Bowl, heh!) and some of the reports I have seen show her 'not reporting' so uhh, really?

[southbymidwest]

"Eric Deggans of the National Sports Journalism Center says there is a worthwhile debate to be had about how television networks sell the sex appeal of some of their sideline reporters. But, he said, that issue would have to wait for another day — it shouldn’t be confused with the problem of workplace harassment."

THIS. In most workplaces, there is a dress code of sorts. These ensembles fail in the professionally attired category. Sorry, eye candy as journalist doesn't cut it. BUT it never means it is ok to sexually harass her.

Christine Brennan, a sportswriter at one time for the Washington Post (she is now at USA Today), was one of the first female sports reporters covering a professional sports team, I believe. Her beat was the Washington Redskins. She took a ton of abuse from the players who had a hard time with women in the locker room. Portis' comment reminds me of those times, 20ish? years ago.

From what I understand, sportswriters want to get into the locker room because they can get a "better" interview from the players, who are still elated or deflated from the game just concluded. Makes for better quotes. By the time players have showered, dressed, and are at the mic at the post game press conference, they have cooled off and become more scripted and bland.

[knight_shadow]

Adding insult to injury: Gaaaaatdaaaamn *oogles reporter*

Serious: I agree with FSUZeta -- you can't dress like that in testosterone central and not expect people to take notice. There are ways to dress "sexy" yet professional (I think we discussed this in the Citibank thread), but she honestly looks like she's on the way to the club for Free Before 11.

[BluPhire]

Same thing like that other woman that was on Wall Street.

1) The players should have known better in this day and age.

2) Her station promotes her to dress like this. It is part of their "culture"

3) Hopefully this truly opens the door though that there is still a certain "uniform" professionals should wear if they want to be taken seriously.

There are plenty of good to great looking female reporters that never had this issue. Heck even Erin Andrews never had issues with players in coaches, her's was a stalker that went to her room.

This is the same woman that asked Brady to marry her during the Super Bowl interviews dressed in a wedding dress. So its hard to take her serious...which is sad.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by BluPhire

Same thing like that other woman that was on Wall Street.

1) The players should have known better in this day and age.

2) Her station promotes her to dress like this. It is part of their "culture"

3) Hopefully this truly opens the door though that there is still a certain "uniform" professionals should wear if they want to be taken seriously.

There are plenty of good to great looking female reporters that never had this issue. Heck even Erin Andrews never had issues with players in coaches, her's was a stalker that went to her room.

This is the same woman that asked Brady to marry her during the Super Bowl interviews dressed in a wedding dress. So its hard to take her serious...which is sad.

Wrong woman BUT from the same TV station!!! HA!

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by BluPhire

3) Hopefully this truly opens the door though that there is still a certain "uniform" professionals should wear if they want to be taken seriously.

I agree with the quoted. If she tries to pass her style of dress off as "corporate culture," she's going to have to deal with the consequences. She (and others) needs to use some common sense.

My job allows us to come into work in casual attire (as I'm typically not client-facing). Even thought I CAN come into work with a tall tee and a du-rag, I won't do it if I want to be taken seriously.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

Serious: I agree with FSUZeta -- you can't dress like that in testosterone central and not expect people to take notice. There are ways to dress "sexy" yet professional (I think we discussed this in the Citibank thread), but she honestly looks like she's on the way to the club for Free Before 11.

If she were wearing the outfits the citibank lady at least posed for pictures in, I would take her more seriously.

[DrPhil]

She's definitely sexy. Part of how she's dressed is a component of what you see when you watch the news on stations such as Telemundo (?). I have seen female news anchors and meteorologists on some Latin American stations who were clearly placed there for viewers to WATCH.

However, you can be beautiful and sexy without exuding it in the manner that she is. Her outfits are doing too much. I'm sure she's dressed like that as a result of a combination of encouragement from her bosses and her own free will. I would say the same for a male reporter who found it necessary to wear a muscle shirt and scrotum clinching pants in a WNBA setting. Save the sexy for a better venue, people.

Sexual harassment? Nah. Hypermasculinity? Yes. A lesson to be learned and a cultural note about a distinction between sexuality in North America and sexuality in Latin America? Yes.

This is also a reminder that something can be sexual harassment even if the target encouraged it (i.e. if this reporter smiled or twitched her ass even more as the cat calling began) and didn't mind how she or he was being approached.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by agzg

If she were wearing the outfits the citibank lady at least posed for pictures in, I would take her more seriously.

Yeah the Citibank lady was pretty and sexy (wasn't she a plastic surgery fan?) without wearing the tight and low cut shirts and pants.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Yeah the Citibank lady was pretty and sexy (wasn't she a plastic surgery fan?) without wearing the tight and low cut shirts and pants.

Yeah. I'm not saying she deserved to be harassed, or either of them really (if they both were - I don't know), but someone would get by just fine wearing the citibank lady's outfits to my office. And I loved her shoes. This lady, not so much.

Although this does speak to the network she was on - I can't imagine she didn't have to go through some sort of wardrobe process.

And for whatever reason, her first outfit reminds me of Kelly Kapowski from Saved By the Bell: The College Years.

[BluPhire]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

Wrong woman BUT from the same TV station!!! HA!

Thanks for the correction. I just found out and was gonna edit.

Either way.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

she does not look like a professional reporter. i don't agree with her being harassed, but she needs to get a clue. yesterday afternoon i began hearing a different story from her. she was saying that the boys were just joking and they weren't harassing her, just making jokes and that it was another female reporter who was offended and made the initial complaint.

i think the nfl, nba,etc. just need to ban all reporters from the locker room. they can't just ban women, so it will have to be a mass ban.

frankly, the network she works for seems to be promoting her as a sex object/centerfold, and that's just wrong.

From the beginning she said that she wasn't offended and that she didn't feel at risk in the locker room. The complaint was made by another journalist that witnessed the event that included Rex Ryan and his staff throwing footballs near her to get her attention.

While I think that having reporters in the locker room at all is ridiculous, it is how reporting has been done since the beginning of the NFL, and the Supreme Court has already ruled on this one. These guys make a lot of money, and part of the job is appropriately dealing with the press. Unless they want to continue to see these kinds of stories, they need to learn to shut up while an attractive woman is near them. They can rehash it all when she walks out the room. Their rights to free speech end when they infringe on the working woman who just wants to get an interview.