ESPN & Sexually Degrading Comment

If you haven’t heard, reports are saying ESPN recently terminated an announcer for making a sexually degrading comment to a sideline reporter. While some in the public have defended ESPN, many have criticized ESPN.  You can read more details about the case at CNN.com.

We have heard people say, “You can’t have fun in the workplace anymore without fear of being sued or fired.”  We disagree.  Corporations and associations need to be more proactive in teaching employees and team members HOW to have fun creating safe and healthier work environments that will not tolerate sexual degradation of anyone.  Just like The Date Safe Project works to teach students and adults of all ages HOW to have fun requesting and respecting consent, companies need to do similar training on sexual harassment (as part of and/or in addition to covering legal requirements).

Consider the following:

1. Several bloggers are saying if someone wants to work around men, then that person should be “More like a man.”  A corporation has no gender and thus a corporate culture should have no specific gender. Expecting anyone of any gender to “Be more like a Man” because the person works for a certain company or industry makes no logical sense.

2. In a “Man’s World, you have to expect . . .(and then the example is often men being sexually degrading toward others)”  Really?  Do we as a society have such low standards for males that we should EXPECT the lowest common denominator of thoughts and sexual treatment of others by males?

These are just 2 quick examples of where arguments trying to make harassment sound like a “non-issue” do not make sense.  What are your reactions to this news story?  Share in our COMMENTS section below!

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