Erin Andrews (left), Christine Brennan (right)
There is a price to pay for a woman being highly successful in her profession and also being strikingly beautiful, ask ESPN reporter, Erin Andrews, who recently suffered humiliation from a video of her undressed circulated around the Internet apparently taken through a hotel room door peephole.
What was done to Ms. Andrews was dead wrong, period. It’s not funny. The person responsible should be held legally responsible for his actions if criminal laws apply. If not, certainly Ms. Andrews would be fully justified to pursue civil charges.
The reaction to this event is disturbing. Just as the stereotypes persist that somehow rape victims invite their attack, a strong current of commentary is circulating that somehow holds Ms. Andrews responsible for her misfortune. Try to make sense out of this. A woman required to travel frequently by the nature of her job and thus stays in hotels often does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in a hotel room?
That notion is ridiculous. Popular women are frequently subject to stalkers, sex perverts, and sleazy opportunists who could make a quick buck trading on embarrassing or suggestive photos and videos of them.
Enter Christine Brennan, an experienced sports journalist, quite normal and professional looking one who would never be the subject of sleazoid fascination the way Ms. Andrews has been. Her comment on Erin Andrew’s plight would seem to further the stereotype – the sense that beauty deserves its consequence.
"She doesn't deserve what happened to her, but part of the shtick, seems to me, is being a little bit out there in a way that then are you encouraging the complete nutcase to drill a hole in a room.”
"Erin [Andrews] did not deserve this. I want to make that crystal clear. But she's got to be smarter and better."
The truth is both woman are damned good at what they do but they’ve chosen their path in different ways and each one has different abilities.
Sports journalism is an entertainment business. It’s all about getting ratings and creating widespread name recognition. Ms. Andrews knows her stuff and knows how to play up to her audience, that all important male audience 18-35 to which much sports advertising is directed – not that she shouldn’t be appealing to other demographics as well.
The only way any pictures that present Ms. Andrews in a manner she does not chose to be seen are ones from her functioning in a public capacity or ones she specifically approves for marketing purposes. How bad is it? Do a Google image search for Erin Andrews and see how many photos are amateur exploitation pictures or others edited to emphasize her anatomy.
The creeps are out there. Maybe Christine Brennan might not be taken advantage of the same way Erin Andrews has but there are plenty of nutcases capable of all kinds of wicked adventure.
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