Sports reporting and the perils of men-only spaces

I like the NFL, but without doubt some of its players have their problems in understanding that the rules of civilised behaviour still apply to them.

A recent story was about some misogynistic comments and sexual harassment directed at a female sports reporter by some New York Jets players. Yahoo News today flashed up an article written by Doug Farrar that seems to cover most of the analysis that's needed of how coverage has developed. While he introduces some of the arguments that Inés Sainz maybe has made too much out of something fairly innocent, as far as I can tell, he goes on to point out why such arguments are really not acceptable.

For instance:

...there's an alarming undercurrent of "she was asking for it." Sure, it's entirely possible that without her looks, Sainz wouldn't get anywhere near a professional microphone. But it's also entirely possible that she might be able to "transcend" the stereotype that a pretty person (male or female) must debit points from their intelligence simply because he/she doesn't fit someone else's cultural, moral or ethical stereotype.

Which just needs the addition of, "and she (and everyone else) deserves the chance to do so." It also fails to make the point that "she was asking for it" is never an acceptable line to take, even if it were the case that someone used sex appeal to get ahead.

Another good point made by Mr Farrar was:

Sainz shouldn't have to meet Brennan's or anyone else's standards except for her own, her employer's and those of the teams she covers. If every female sports reporter hits the locker room in full Amish attire, we'll know they're serious. But why should they have to?

Which strikes me as being precisely the point, not just about locker rooms, but about every space where women might be existing.