The Ines Sainz Incident: Old School Sexism Is Back
September 15, 2010
by Patricia Garrison
|The opinions expressed herein are those of the author, and not necessarily those of The New Agenda.
Women have been permitted in male locker rooms for more than 30 years. The last big story of a harassment incident with a female reporter happened two decades ago. Why, after all this time, has it happened again? Let’s just say, in the words of Yogi Berra, it’s deja vu all over again.
Ines Sainz, a reporter for TVAzteca, is at the center of a controversy involving alleged sexual harrassment in the NY Jets locker room.
For those of us old enough to remember the moment when women reporters were given locker room access in 1978, it feels like we’re in some perverse kind of time machine, with the gear shift stuck in reverse. We can recite the story line verbatim: An attractive woman enters a distinctly male domain and instantly is barraged with sexual taunts and catcalls while attempting to do her job. (Beyond the catcalls, it’s also alleged that head coach, Rex Ryan, called for a drill in which teammates would “accidentally” collide with her). What followed was a public discourse focused primarily on her appearance, her choice of clothing, and photos from previous modeling jobs.
For the record, she was wearing a pair of jeans and a white, button-down shirt the night she was harassed. But, hey, the jeans were tight, and you shoulda’ seen what she wore to Monday night’s game. The swimsuit shots, the boobs, the short skirts! Let’s face it, she had it comin’.
I was hoping we were done with this kind of thing. This misguided, patently ridiculous, misogynistic view that when you’re young, sexy, and attractive with those kinds of outfits — and you have the audacity to go where men think you don’t belong — this is what you get (the implication being that men have a right to abuse and/or they are the victims of sexual potency). But, it happens more and more. It’s bad enough when clothing is used to diminish women (too dowdy, too matronly, too uptight, too slutty, blah, blah, blah), but when it is used to harass women and sexually taunt or abuse them, then it’s dangerous, not to mention potentially criminal.
I happened to be a young reporter myself back in 1978 when women were first allowed into the locker room. The newspaper in New Jersey where I worked covered New York teams, and our female sports reporter was assigned that first night to cover a game. She got her interviews and was greeted with resounding applause when she entered the newsroom. Men, women, young reporters, and seasoned editors jumped to their feet. We were happy for her, and for ourselves. Equality, in turns out, can be invigorating for both genders.
But that was then. In my experience, that was an all too brief moment in our history when sexism was taken far more seriously and women were either so freakin’ tired of it or refusing to have any part of it, that we didn’t give a damn. We wanted fairness, we schooled ourselves on exactly what sexism is and how to spot it, and we were, I think, far less cautious in calling it out. When you have no collective patience for inequities and when you’re kind of united in feeling good about being female and getting treated fairly, then the environment you live in changes with you.
I don’t mean to paint a picture of perfection. Women have had to deal with sexism in any decade. But, it has become far more accepted to be sexist, boorish and brutal. Men now feel entitled and they know that for as many bloggers and commenter who see sexism for what it is, an equal if not greater number will say “she had it coming.” For her part, Sainz was pitch perfect in her deeply felt, honest responses – her embarrassment, her reticence to issue a complaint (it was the Association for Women in Sports Media that filed the complaint with the NFL) and her acknowledgement that the issue was not only for her, but for all professional women.
Solidarity, sisterhood, and fighting for the rights of all women. Nothing like kickin’ it old school.
Pat – saw this on Facebook:
The NFL sent all teams a reminder about its media policy today:
“By law, women must be granted the same rights to perform their jobs as men…Women reporters are professionals…When female reporters are in your locker room, they are there in a professional capacity.”
I see only partially the behaviour of Sainz on this matter (not completely, I know) but she seems to be a patriarchal woman as well as her behaviour and attitude before life. I’m not justifying sexism in man but don’t accept either or justify sexism in women. I’m not completely sure about Sainz being a patriarchal woman.But in that case is difficult complain about sexist men if women are sexists too.I mean, to be a sexist man is wrong always but being a sexist woman is wrong too. Sorry but I cannot accept patriarchal system.
Wow, I can’t believe how backwards that is! I agree with you — I was hoping this kind of sexism was over too, but I was reading the NY Times yesterday and came across an article that discusses the media’s discomfort with Zestra’s use of open female sexuality in recent ads. I think that in our culture should be able to handle female arousal ads once in a while, especially considering how many erectile dysfunction ads we see all the time. The bottom line is that people aren’t ready to totally acknowledge female sexuality yet.
I see both sides on this. The men’s locker room is the men’s locker room and I don’t think it is too much to ask to be able to get dressed and showered without the opposite sex there. The obvious solution would be to keep all reporters out of a portion of the locker room and have a separate interview space. On the other hand women reporters have to be able to do their jobs and if the Sports teams don’t change their policy about reporters in the locker room then they need to be able to go in the locker room. And there are women who need to grow up and realize that bikini pictures publicly displayed are going to show up the rest of your life and they are going to haunt you and your professional persona. I know they talk to grade school kids about this concept relative to the internet so I think it is a concept that intelligent women should be able to grasp. Is it fair? No. Is it predictable and also reality? Yes, so consider that before you attempt to get ahead with a public bikini photo shoot.
Anian, that’s all just another spin on “she had it coming.” Thanks for playing, but the only patriarchy I see is your comment.
Besides, kindly explain exactly how she is “sexist,” other than being thin, pretty, and blonde.
Janis,
You had to see her interview with Meredith V. on MSNBC yesterday morning. Meredith kept trying to bait her with the “have you considered what you were wearing” schtick and Sainz didn’t feed into it. Sainz is obviously an attractive young woman and she has been a sports reporter for a long time and has never had this problem before. Even though her English was labored, she held her own in the patriarchal questioning by MSNBC. I found her confident and highly professional. Meredith, not so much…
They drilled themselves on how to harass her.
Frankly, and this may not be the most popular thing to say on the interwebz in general, but when you are thin and pretty, it doesn’t matter what you wear. Hell, if you aren’t, plenty of people will find things to scream at you out of pickup truck windows anyway. Harassment didn’t spring into being the day the Wondebra was created. As much as I think that sort of clothing is a bad idea and clearly puts men first, the other person’s behavior is the other person’s responsibility.
Besides, would she even have been hired as a reporter had she NOT worn that sort of stuff? Her bosses threw her as meat to the dogs, then blamed her for the dogs actions.
Janis, this is a classic “double bind” and the purpose of the double bind is so that the oppressed -appear- complicit in the oppression. This dress and behavior appears required of women in order to be liked, accepted, and successful. This dress and behavior appears to men to affirm their status and appears to men equally as giving them permission to degrade harass and objectify. Then the woman, a professional reporter, goes into the locker room, to interview them, and is harassed.
The question then is, was she complicit in the patriarchy and her oppression. This is how oppression works; keeps the oppressed fighting amongst themselves instead of calling out the mixed directives, double binds, of society.
Look at the head tilt and smile. The men must have been so angered at a subconscious level that she was coming to interview them on a professional level; hence the desire to harass.
I agree with Janis point that she would never have been hired if she didn’t have the looks and didn’t show them off. That is one of the things about the patriarchal control of the media, average women don’t work. And this fact has benefited women who are now working in media because they never had to compete with most of the female population to get their jobs. The down side, looks fade and younger is usually considered better looking, so the trait you exploited to gain employment ends up taking you down in the long run. And as I think Anian was trying to articulate, using your sexy look to gain employment is going along with the patriarchy’s program which eventually will bite you in the butt. After watching my 15 year old daughter walk down the mall unaware, in jeans and a Tshirt (she walks like the jock she is) and seeing male heads snap to check her out from the back I also agree it doesn’t matter what a young tall thin blond woman wears she will draw attention and comments.
These are the options for women..marriage isn’t any better.
The only thing that’s not complicit with the patriarchy is calling out sexism, making -laws-, and enforcing those laws.
Just because someone can reel in their comments, doesn’t mean they’ve adjusted their thinking. Calling a spade a spade, attractive women will almost always get that “look” from someone no matter how far we would like to believe we’ve evolved in the workplace. Women can have curves and still be respected. A little Employment Etiquette 101 and common sense will help. Dress in a manner that ensures people recognize your abilities, not your physical assets….or at the very least, try.
Helen: ever the voice of reason and balance – brava!
I’m all for dressing sexy. And I’m all for equal rights. I also think if one dresses “provocatively,” one should not be surprised with the resulting attention, wanted and/or unwanted.
We are sexual beings. It’s part of our make-up (at least those of us who are heterosexual), to be physically attracted to members of the opposite sex. The way we move, the way we dress, talk, act, look at each other, all of it is part of the human mating dance. It’s never going to be eliminated. I think it’s unreasonable for us to expect that men will not look at women lustfully, AND vice versa. We’re biologically programmed to do it.
I think the difficulty lies in striking a healthy balance wherein our sexuality (and I mean that of both women and men), is not somehow tied (either positively or negatively) to our perceived professional competence.
I’m not sure how we might best go about achieving that…
P.S. Patricia, just a comment: I think the media is just as sexist, perhaps even more so, than many other industries, both from an employment standpoint, and from an editorial balance standpoint. Sweeping generalisation, I know, but one that I believe has some substance…
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