I fucking hate this country sometimes, nobody should be harrassed, but when does personal responsibility come in to play? When does common sense come in to play?
Apparently not before you have multi-million dollar athletes behaving like boorish frat boys toward a credentialed reporter who, it hasn't been said, specifically invited this sort of attention, or appreciated it when it was given. Myself, I'd have thought it self-evident that 'personal responsibility' would be presumed
before that sort of thing happened, but I guess not.
The simple fact is, you'd all be on much firmer arguing ground if you'd stick to "Whatever happened in that locker room just
wasn't that bad." Now, you'd still have to explain why she was apparently uncomfortable enough with it to tweet (in real-time) about how uncomfortable she was, but at least you'd have her public retraction to fall back on and trumpet in your defense.
But instead, this other line of argument is, I'm sorry to say, profoundly insulting to both women and men. Or at least it should be. I don't care how tight her pants were. And I don't care that her TV station has a reputation for doing stupid pre-game stunts or just being publicity whores in general. At the moment it became clear that this attention being paid to her was unwanted/undesired, it should've stopped. That's the rule in an office setting. That's the rule in a bar. That's even the rule in a strip club. The
expectations may be raised or lowered in each of those places, but the
rule doesn't change, and everyday millions of men manage to function in these environments with something that approaches decency.
So why are football players given a pass here? You bring up their "testosterone level," like these guys are glorified lower primates, who let their hormones dictate their ethics, and who couldn't possibly have known any better. You seem to grant that Sainz was sexually harassed. Then you blame her for it. You actually write, "nobody should be harassed, but..."
I don't see the need for a qualifier here. I think most all of us would be comfortable agreeing with one absolute, or the other. 'Nobody should be harassed,' or 'She had it coming.' As I said, I think 'She had it coming' is a pretty disgusting sentiment, and one that's been used for decades (if not longer) to justify far worse behavior towards women. But at least, when you're not trying to qualify it, it's an honest statement. But granting that a wrong was committed, then blaming her for not showing 'personal responsibility,' while ignoring the people who you acknowledge
wronged her, is very disturbing.