Is physical appearance a drawback for female sports reporters? Without a doubt. I don’t want to call myself attractive, but I have been told I shouldn’t wear tight clothing at work. I try to cover up, and a lot of my friends do too, but nonetheless if your body is in shape and men find you attractive, they are going to make comments.
I have several female friends who, like me, are sports presenters – in the NFL, basketball, UFC – and it’s happened to all of us, whether on camera or behind the scenes. I think it’s fair to say that sexism exists in sport, but I can also say it exists in almost every field.
Even today, you can’t make partner as a lawyer without someone asking, ‘What did she do?’ or be a good reporter without, ‘How did she get that interview?’. There’s a double-edged sword to what we do, as you will never be good enough. You either have to have done something, or you’re just ‘attractive’.
Earlier this week, cricketer Chris Gayle came under fire for flirting with sports reporter Mel McLaughlin. Later, he was accused of exposing himself to an Australian woman – a claim he denies. In Mel’s case, she’s a pretty girl, and I’m sure she’s party to [sexism] simply because of that. Just look at the comments Chris Gayle made: ‘I want to look into your eyes’.
Obviously he fancied her, but I don’t think he understands the level of professionalism it takes from both reporters and athletes.
Gayle did not stay in his lane. Mel McLaughlin came at him professionally, doing her job, and I think that respect should have been mutual. When he said, ‘Don’t blush, baby’, that’s so condescending; it was as if he was giving her a compliment, and she should accept it because she’s a woman.
From what I understand, he is a bit of a joker, and for whatever reason, he thought it was a joke. I think that’s completely unfair, because he wouldn’t have said the same thing if a man was standing in front of him. If he’d cracked a joke that could be used on either a man or woman, then I could see his defence. But what he said, where was it funny?
I get where he’s trying to be what Brits like to call ‘cheeky’, but when a woman is getting up there to do her job, in front of thousands of people, she doesn’t want that attention. No woman does, especially when they care about their career and have worked very hard to get where they are.
It’s a lot more difficult than people understand, and if women in sport didn’t love their jobs so damn much, then they wouldn’t be doing it; it really is that hard.
Sometimes the abuse sometimes just isn’t worth it. There have been times where my mum has had to sit up with me all night because I’ve cried. It’s bothered me. But rather than getting sexist remarks within boxing – the area of sports I work in – for me most of the negativity has come from sexist boxing fans. The ones that say, ‘Get back in the kitchen’ or ‘You don’t deserve to do what you’re doing’.
But that comes more from the internet – people hiding behind a keyboard – as I’ve never heard those words to my face. Not once.
But then those things make you stronger, because you realise, ‘Why am I so bothered by someone who won’t identify themselves and doesn’t even have a real name?’. It’s not just me, this is across the board; there’s not a single woman I know that hasn’t been absolutely demolished online.
Luckily, those within my industry know when a woman takes their job really seriously, and I don’t get harassed within boxing. I’m actually really blessed, as I feel like from the moment I came in, the boxers treated me very well, they’ve always been polite and I’ve never come across anyone that’s said something that made me feel uncomfortable.
They know I’m there to do my job and that nothing else is going down. It’s why I’m still single, because it’s virtually impossible to date anyone you work with, and I don’t really do anything other than work, so meeting someone is really hard. You’re almost made to choose between your job and love. You can’t have both, especially not within your own field.
I believe that everything happens for a reason, and I think Mel will come through it and hopefully turn this into something positive for her career.
There’s a quote I love by a baseball player, Reggie Jackson. They said to him, ‘Every time you get up, no matter what stadium, you get booed. Does that bother you?’ He replied: ‘No. They don’t boo nobodies.’
Michelle Joy Phelps is owner of BehindTheGloves.com and boxing correspondent for Sky Sports
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.