Blog Assignment # 2
“Personal Fouls”
If only the New York Jets players and coaches would’ve had their priorities in order and were using the practice field to prepare for their Monday night’s season opener against the Baltimore Ravens and not focusing on Ms. Ines Sainz, maybe they would’ve scored more than nine points on offense and possibly won the game.
As a die-hard New York Jets fan, that’s all I could think about after reading this article. However, reflecting on how bad my team played in Week 1 is not the nature of my assignment.
The media loves to pounce on stories of this nature. Anytime there is a scandal, especially involving athletes and women, sports journalist are eager to conjure up a distorted perception about athletes and portray them as arrogant millionaires who believe that they are above the law.
Surprisingly, after reading this article I didn’t get that vibe. It was presented with factual aspects that pertained to the topic without personal embellishment or opinions from the authors.
It details the accounts of the situation as Ms. Sainz recalls them and discusses the actions that have been taken since the alleged incident. It quotes Ms. Sainz directly and never deviates from her recollection with added statements.
Online public writing about this situation can have an adverse affect in shaping and reflecting cultural opinions. It gives the reader of future articles that pertain to sexual harassment in the workplace an avenue to pass judgment without knowing all the facts. It also allows for those who feel that women who dress “too provocative”, whether by perception or obviously, voluntarily subject themselves to the treatment that Ms. Sainz alleges she experienced while at the Jets practice facility.
The benefit of this article is that it spotlights the topic of sexual harassment, which in some form occurs on a daily basis in the workplace. Making people aware that sexual harassment is serious and will not be tolerated in the workplace is vital to ensure that all employees feel comfortable at work. The more press it gets, whether online print, television, or newspaper, hopefully people will understand that that harassment of any kind is ethically and morally wrong.
Articles about topics like this can also subject potential accusers to negative reactions and public conviction before the allegations are found to be true. I’ve seen instances where individual’s careers, especially sports analyst and broadcasters, have been ruined because of harassment allegations and they were found to be untrue. In the end, public opinion, in conjunction with their employers developing a negative perception about them lead to them being relieved of their duties permanently despite their vindication.
In conclusion, the article has an argument for both sides. It’s easy to say that Ms. Sainz voluntarily subjects herself to the harassment because of her provocative attire or because she promotes herself as “the hottest sports reporter” in Mexico. However, that’s still not justification for the Jets players and coaches to cat-call at her or to make her feel uncomfortable as she does her job. Being attractive should not make a person feel uneasy about the profession they choose to do. People should be able to do their jobs freely with an open mind and not be concerned about potentially being harassed.
Responce to Larry Spears Blog
ReplyDeleteI must say that this is a subject with content that can be argued forever but Larry makes some valid points. Somewhere between fully clothed and dressing unaproppertily lies the medium in which socity will tolerate. I will do my best to keep this G rated here but if a person, women or man dresses in a way to capture attention as this young women did they would have to expect not just the postive comments but some of the least desirable as well. For example, I simply do not understand why you would wear a low cut shirt/ blouse showing 90% of what you have and then get upset if noticed. Yes, you do have the right to wear that but are you prepared for the attention the girls are going to get and I asure you most will not be looking at that cute little piece of clothing. As Larry mentioned, it doesen't give the other viewers a right to be rude, but shouldn't we put a little thought into the results that we will encourage by dressing this way? If this person was dressed different would it have solicited the same result and if not, who was harrasing who? I agree, there is no room or excuse for harassment in a work place or anywhere else but we need to make good decisions in respect to what we wear and where we wear it.
Great article and comments Larry.
I agree, when you mix a woman reporter with football or baseball players you always get a scandal. The same thing happened in baseball a few years back in LA. A reporter who was interviewing a Dodger pitcher complained about inappropriate behavior in the locker room. I am not saying as men we can't control ourselves, but sometimes after a game you need to let off steam and it is just better when there are men journalists and not women. If you are a woman reporter you need to be aware of what you are wearing because you are going around a bunch of guys, I mean come on, you need to be realistic.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog Larry, I am actually a die-hard Miami Dolphins fan so I enjoyed seeing the Jets in a little bit of trouble! All kidding aside, this issue as blown up is it may seem is actually a serious problem. When I read that story I immediately thought that her provocative clothing set her up for what she got in that locker room, but it is not right at all. In any other form of business, the employees who made the cat calls and jokes would have been terminated or written up. Just because football is a different type of business doesn’t mean the rules don’t apply. Although, there could be some things in that locker room that a woman should not be seeing so the story goes both ways. It’s actually a tough one because her being in there could be an invasion of their privacy as well. So I definitely see both sides but you never want to see someone feel uncomfortable in their job. This story received a great deal of press and some may have been skewed. Online media will definitely do that, especially to a story like this one. So I agree with what you wrote and you said it very well.
ReplyDeleteLarry, I was dismayed how the Jets could come out and play that flat the first game. They did make it to the championship game last year, their shouldn't have been any distractions or let downs to cause such a lack of focus. Perhaps the pre-season HBO documentary was just as much of the culprit for the lack of preparation. Ms Sainz was more than willing to get up close and personal and who could blame the players for flirting when they got a chance to blow off some steam. Seriously, who would mind her in their locker room? Yes, media does like to pounce on those more fortunate than us. With the assumption that they are arrogant and above the law, you see it happen in all walks of life. The good deeds that they do are frequently never brought to light.
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