I’d suggest adding locker rooms to this list.
I have multiple reasons for this argument, but one is
enough: An individual’s right to privacy, guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment to
the U.S. Constitution. There is also something to be said about plain,
old-fashioned common decency respecting another person’s dignity.
Popular culture has gotten so wrapped up in media access
that it has lost any sense of conscience. The only thing on our minds in this
modern age seems to be whether or not we can do something, rather than asking
ourselves whether or not we should.
The landmark 1978 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Ludtke v. Kuhn opened the door for
female reporters to enter the locker rooms of male athletes, granting them the
same equal access as their male counterparts.
Most people today feel equal access is a good thing. No
harm, no foul, right?
But then there were sexual harassment incidents that followed
in consequence to this equal access. The most talked about of these events was
when Boston Herald reporter Lisa Olson was harassed by members of the New
England Patriots after a 1990 NFL game.
Suddenly, the issue of female reporters in men’s locker
rooms became a hot-button topic, and the debate over how to accommodate female
press members lasted for months.
The topic, though, has seemed to wax and wane over time. It
only becomes important when another harassment incident occurs, like when TV
Azteca reporter Ines Sainz was the subject of comments made by members of the
New York Jets while she waited inside the locker room for quarterback Mark
Sanchez after a 2010 NFL game.
I’d like to preface what I’m going to say next by
emphasizing that there is no excuse for the behavior of anyone who harasses
someone else. They need to own their behavior and accept the consequences of
their actions.
However, general common sense would tell a person that a
locker room is really no place to conduct any other business than that of the
athletes themselves. It is full of smelly, sweaty bodies and rank clothing. It
is a loud and obnoxious place, full of chaos and no general order to things.
The locker room is a place where a bunch of athletes are just trying to clean
up and unwind from a hard day’s work.
As an athlete, the very last thing I would want in the
locker room is a reporter waving a microphone in my face, eager for a scoop or
an emotionally charged quote. Frankly, the locker room is no place for
reporters of any gender. Period.
It is a place where individual privacy ought to be
respected, and a person’s sense of dignity preserved.
That is really the best way to settle any debate over
whether female reporters belong in men’s locker rooms. Should they be allowed?
Per the U.S. Supreme Court, that question has been moot since 1978.
But do they belong there? Categorically no. Not any more
than male reporters belong in women’s locker rooms. It is inappropriate to say
the least. But it is also a reckless exercise that has trouble written all over
its face.
I feel that encouraging women reporters to enter men’s
locker rooms to get a scoop for a story is irresponsible, too. It sets up a
dangerous precedent that puts these women in precarious, high risk situations
where their chances of being harassed are increased.
While we have every right to expect male athletes to conduct
themselves as gentlemen at all times, we must also acknowledge that this
expectation is simply not realistic, either. The locker room is really the last
place one should expect chivalrous or gentlemanly behavior.
And, by the way some of these women dress, I can only shake
my head and wonder silently, “what in the world were you thinking?” Who are you
trying to impress, and why?
They are certainly not trying to win brownie points with
their editors.
Although it would be wrong to assert that a woman asks for
harassment by the way she dresses, common sense dictates that when a woman
dresses provocatively she should not expect benign or platonic reactions from
members of the opposite gender. Ines Sainz and Erin Andrews tend to dress like they
are on their way to a catalog shoot for Venus or Frederick’s of Hollywood. I
see more legs and skin on them than I do male basketball players. They both
seem to dress in ways that do not convey a sense of journalistic integrity or
professionalism. If women like them are truly all business as sports journalists,
then they need to dress ready for business, instead of seemingly dressing to
impress the visual appetites of male athletes from whom they can gain an
exclusive interview.
It is common knowledge that men are generally very visual,
and are easily stimulated in this manner. No one knows this fact better than
men; except maybe women.
When a woman wears a lot of liberal, skin-bearing attire,
she sends a message—intentional or not—to men with whom she comes into contact.
Considering how brazenly Sainz dresses, I’ll wager she is
not only quite cognizant of this fact, but it may, in fact, be a motivation of
hers to attract attention so she can get to popular male athletes first.
Assuming that is true, then she and other women who may
think the same way deserve the consequences of their actions. I know that
sounds harsh, but when one makes waves, expect your boat to get rocked. Dressing
with a measurable degree of sex appeal isn’t going to get a woman respect from
men, either. Short skirts and short-shorts, very shapely skinny jeans, platform-sized
stiletto heels, and halters or low-cut tops that display obvious cleavage
conjure up images of street walkers, clubbing co-eds, or groupies more than
they do professional journalists who deserve to be taken seriously; and have
their jobs given equal billing.
I submit that athletes and their jobs need to be taken
seriously, too. Invading their privacy and sense of personal space by
converging in a locker room is not very respectful of professional athletes who
are still on the clock.
The Constitutional right to privacy is just as important as
the right to free press and the right to equal protection under the law,
including Title IX equal access.
The media needs to honor and respect this right as much as
it trumpets its right to free press.
The locker room is no place for any member of the media,
male or female. It won’t kill reporters to have to wait for athletes to
undress, shower, re-dress, primp and unwind for a few minutes before facing the
cameras and microphones. Just as reporters must wait for a jury to deliberate
before getting the verdict, they also should wait for athletes to finish their
business before sharing it with the world.
Just as reporters must wait for a police investigation to be
completed before information is released to them, they should also wait until
athletes are prepared to face them.
And, just as reporters must wait for the team physician to
complete his or her examination of an athlete before their conditions are
released, so, too, should reporters be made to wait a few extra minutes for
athletes to have the opportunity to exercise their right to privacy.
Verily a scoop, and who gets it first, is not as important
as respecting the privacy of the individual. Simply having access to the
athletes and coaches should be enough. Where and when that access occurs should
be less important.
I’m thinking that if the shoe were on the other foot, and
athletes were pounding on the doors of the news room demanding to be the first
to read the final draft of a story, reporters might feel a little uneasy as
though their right to privacy was being disrespected.
I say all of this as one who has some authority to do so. I
spent ten years in the print journalism business, including several years on
the front lines of a sports desk. I know about the pressures of deadlines. But
I never let that effect my judgment or my perspective. I was a human being first,
and a journalist second. I valued my personal privacy as much as the next
person, and I had a fiduciary responsibility to honor the privacy of those from
whom I sought interviews and information.
Removing all reporters from the locker room isn’t just the
right thing to do, it is also a prudent solution to a recurring problem.
Rather than having to revisit Title IX all over again the
next time a female reporter feels harassed in a locker room, how about we take
the locker room out of the equation entirely? Let’s stop the victimization
before it has even an inkling of a chance to start.
And, let’s stop playing the victim, too. Female reporters
are guilty of this more times than not. Instead of crying foul in complaint, or
in reminiscence of the good old days when athletes got away with brutish
behavior, let’s move forward as professionals.
Frankly, I am tired of reading the blogs or columns of
female reporters who seem to relish in recalling their own personal brushes
with inequality as though they are swapping war stories. They tend to wear
these experiences like badges of honor that entitle them to moan, groan and
complain about injustice.
How about we get beyond victimization already by reducing
situations and scenarios that naturally seem to lend themselves to bad
behavior?
Kick out all of the reporters in the locker room, and
maintain exclusive privacy for the athletes, coaches, and other team staff.
Just because business on the field has concluded doesn’t mean it’s over in the
locker room.
Let the athletes finish their business before doing business
with the media.
And, most of all, let’s all try to observe the Golden Rule
of “do unto others.” If we all tried to practice this a little more often,
issues like sexual harassment and locker room access might not be debated.
