I’ve
always been a huge believer in equality; equality in any sense. Whether it be equality based on race or
equality based on gender, in every way I believe that there shouldn’t be any
restrictions on a woman’s whereabouts, more specifically, their shouldn’t be
restrictions when it comes to female sports reporters entering the men’s change
rooms. In reality, what is the difference if it is a man interviewing another
man, post game, or a woman interviewing a man, post game? In both situations, a
reporter will be asking questions and the player is answering them. Now, you’ve
probably heard about this topic being tossed around quite a lot in the media.
To a lot of people, it goes right over their heads. To me as an aspiring female
broadcaster, it is much more. It has a sort of major impact on me. When I’m
older I plan to go into the field of sports media. Often I am criticized for
this, and am put down at my ambitions because of the fact that I am a female.
Nonetheless, despite how difficult I am told this is to be, I am a female wanting
to go into a male dominated profession. This topic really annoys me, for lack
of a better word.
During
the 2013 NHL season an issue came about in the media regarding a Canadian
hockey player by the name of Duncan Keith. Keith plays as first line defenseman
for the Chicago Blackhawks, defending Stanley Cup Champions. The controversy
that had come about had to do with Keith “verbally sparring” a female reporter
(post game) after losing a tough game to Vancouver Canucks, a division rival. When
the female reporter asked him of a call the referee made during the game he
replied with, “the ref saw what he saw and that was the call he made” then
continued on by saying, “we should get you as a ref maybe” as a sexist and
sarcastic remark. Days passed and Keith claimed he did not mean it in a sexist way;
he was irritated and would’ve reacted the same way to a male reporter. Shortly
after when we believed the controversy was done with, more came to surface. We
all know Don Cherry, famous for his crazy suits and speaking his mind. The same
week Keith’s statement was said, Don Cherry felt that he needed to discuss it
on his segment of Coaches Corner on Hockey Night in Canada. Cherry made a
comment that made the country go wild. “I don’t believe – and I really believe
this – I don’t believe that women should be allowed in the male dressing room,”
he said. The media went crazy. In reality, female reporters are not in the
change room looking for naked hockey players. They are in there (and this is
for any reporter for that matter) to get their story, get a good headline, ask
questions, get answers and get out. The change room is a professional
environment with segregated areas for reporters to be. If the players feel
uncomfortable talking to the media, then they can avoid it all together. Real
professional athletes know how to handle any type of media that comes their
way. Real professional reporters know how to do their job properly as well.
Sure, female reporters are going to occasionally see a bare butt, but
that doesn’t stop them from doing their job. Female reporters also should
consider these things before getting into the sports media field. In reality it
does not take much to think of other ways to accommodate and allow appropriate
ways for female reporters to do there jobs just the same as everyone else.
I could honestly talk about this issue for hours and
hours. It is something that makes my blood boil when I hear about it, but I
know that the more exposure the issue gets the better it will be in the future
for females in the world of sports media.
