The Erin Andrews Situation Makes Me Cringe

July 22, 2009     Posted in Buzz

erin-andrews-photoIn the midst of all the hilarious, cute, and often bizarre videos the Internet has to offer, there are many disgusting ones that make you nearly question your faith in humanity. When the news about the Erin Andrews video first broke, my stomach turned: how could people do such a thing to a person, a woman, after we’ve come so far over the past few decades?


By Marisa

A video recently surfaced on the Internet featuring ESPN reporter Erin Andrews nude, filmed from a peephole into her hotel room. ESPN is, understandingly, furious, and any person with a shred of decency should find such a thing revolting. And yet, many people in cyberspace find it a) funny, b) hot, c) an acceptable way to treat a woman, or d) all of the above. As much as I love the Internet and am amazed by what it is capable of, I also can’t believe how cruel and sick people can be.

But the reaction to the Erin Andrews video is the least of our concerns. The fact that someone actually created the video in the first place is thoroughly upsetting. Are women never safe from voyeurs and perverts, not even in the privacy of a hotel room?

This extends beyond just women, as well. As a journalist, a professional, Andrews was humiliated in front of viewers and colleagues. Her career is in jeopardy, and although we cannot know what the future holds, ESPN viewers will never be able to look at her the same way. Her name will be forever tied to this incident, no matter how professional she is. No one recovers from something so humiliating and sickening.

Here’s a real wake-up call on women’s issues.

For those who rail against feminism and claim that women have already achieved equality, just read one article on this incident. The truth is that women are still objectified as sexual beings for men to ogle. In that way, it is safe to assume that comments have been made in the past about Andrews’s appearance, as such is standard practice when evaluating female journalists; but this video takes it all to a whole new level. This is a violation that should not be ignored or made light of. In fact, we should all learn from it and be inspired to act against such acts in the future.
What do you think of the Erin Andrews video incident?

25 Comments on "The Erin Andrews Situation Makes Me Cringe"

  1. criolle johnny says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 200910:53 am 

    Perhaps this is my Navy background talking … the little privacy we had was SACRED! Nobody, I mean NOBODY poked around your bunk, and nobody read your mail.

    This is disgusting. Calls for an old-fashioned "blanket party".

    Remind yourself to cover your hotel door peep-holes.

  2. AK says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 200911:50 am 

    "No one recovers from something so humiliating and sickening" well that is just not true. Look at the "celebrities" who's career took off post sextape/photos.

    To be honest, this will not effect her negativly what so ever.

    However, I am not saying what happened is ok.

  3. Alicia says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 200912:19 pm 

    "To be honest, this will not effect her negatively what so ever."

    Really? I disagree. People who have been the victim of these types of crimes are often traumatized and feel violated by the invasion of their privacy – and if that isn't negative, what is?

    I really feel for her, and wish her the best in continuing on with her life and career.

  4. shari says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 200912:19 pm 

    i agree with everything in the article! i feel so bad for her!

  5. Whitney says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20092:49 pm 

    While I agree with your main points, I feel compelled to point out the hypocrisy behind your post. I try to refrain from judging others' lifestyles and I shall try my best to keep this post as "intellectual" as I possibly am able.

    Do you really think that this website can provide commentary about the rights of women or the unfair objectification of women at the hands of men when a majority of the posts on this website are about either how to look better (not complaining, I appreciate those!) or about all the wild nights hooking up with guys you (or the author) barely know or just met?

    How does giving into the demands of these chauvinistic pigs make you any different or give you the credibility to speak out against female maltreatment?

    This website is sending a double sided argument and the hypocrisy is angering. Although you promote this idea of "feminism" and independent women, you fall right into the trap of sleeping around and not putting yourselves above the fray.

    While I love that you are supporting your fellow woman, it angers me to think that you are what makes men judge women and motivate them to drill holes in hotel walls to catch them naked. You allow yourselves to be objectified, but still maintain grand rhetoric about how women are mistreated or negatively idolized?

    I'm disappointed. At least be consistent.

  6. browny99 says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20093:26 pm 

    well said, Whitney…I guess I've got nothing to say then…except to remind that before anyone speak about women issues, bear in mind that feminists movement pretty much have done the part well , the rest is still up to us to be or not to be viewed as sex objects if we allow men to look at us that way.

  7. Marisa - Wesleyan Un says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20093:29 pm 

    Whitney – This site features posts written by many women sharing different experiences. I've never written posts on the subjects you mentioned. Just be aware of that before you comment.

  8. poppy says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20093:30 pm 

    I'm totally appalled by the situation, i would like to thank college candy bring forth information such as this.

  9. Whitney says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20093:36 pm 

    Marisa,

    I didn't remember your name from any of the posts I was referring to, I was just merely stating that, as a whole, the website promotes two incompatible arguments. The website represents the "free" woman, and I get that.

    I just don't know if THIS is the proper platform to discuss it.

    As I said, I agree with your article.

  10. Whitney says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20093:39 pm 

    * but I don't agree that arguments supporting feminism should be written under the umbrella of objectification.

  11. Curt says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20093:40 pm 

    This is ridiculous. Look this website is as much about "college" as it is interior decorating. Its a site promoting feminism run by neo feminists. In it of itself that is fine. After all this country is still free and people should be able to say what they want even if their tact is kinda cowardly when they masquerade it as innocuous banter. Feminists is a counter culter movement becuase the vast majority of culture does not heed its ethos. Yes most women are not feminists and there will never be a time where most are. So I ask is it really worth objectifying a poor persons plight to further some political agenda that is doomed to fail. Lets be honest what your brining to the table is far from new…at best its been recycled and is just wearing a modern label.

    That aside Erin Andrews is a truly talented sideline reporter. I always thought she was attractive but never understood the whole cult craze over her. Well she and her employer took notice. With one hand pointing finger and condeming cat calling and "mysogonistic" behavior by sports fans and rival journalists alike. Then hiking up her skirt and putting extra low camera angles on television as she walked up dugout steps. Look ESPN like any other business has to strive to make as much profit as they can. Thats business. They would be stupid to not take advantage of this women's cultural symbol in sports. that said no one should be all that "dismayed" or "floored" that one of the countless thousands if not millions of guys watching here every week doesnt decide to pull a stunt like this. If you ask im just thankfuly thats all he did….and considering the circumstances she should be too. Maybe she shoudl think twice about wearing pump and a short skirt infront of 50 thousand drunks dudes. jus saying.

  12. Casey says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20096:26 pm 

    Whitney, I totally agree with you. That's always been my biggest qualm with this site.

    I don't think this is really a feminist issue. This could have happened to anyone, male or female. I think it's unfair to say that it's a feminist issue just because she's a pretty girl. This is more an issue of an invasion of privacy, or an issue of perversion than it is an issue of feminism. Not everything that involves women is a feminist issue. I could very well see this happening to a male celebrity just as easily as a female one. Although I agree that this is truly disturbing and sick, I don't think it really has anything to do with objectifying women, or the fact that she was a woman at all, but more-so the fact that someone thought she was hot and wanted to see her naked. What the person did is truly sick and I hope they are caught if they haven't been already.

  13. X says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20096:35 pm 

    I work in sports, and I'm pretty confident in saying that something like that could hurt her career. It's difficult to be a woman in sports already, and in a male-dominated field, this only puts her a step back.

  14. Samantha says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20098:04 pm 

    I think it’s a terrible and disgusting thing that happened to her, but it’ll probably just bother me more than her job. She does work for ESPN that primarily a bunch of guys that watch. I doubt they really care. I feel for the girl though and I don’t see how anyone can find it funny.

  15. Samantha says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20097:08 pm 

    *Not the same Samantha as above.

    I agree with Whitney completely. That's my issue with this site too (not issue enough that I stop reading, obviously, just annoyance). And I also agree with Casey that I don't think this is a feminist issue, it's an invasion of privacy issue that could have happened to a male or female celebrity.

    Also, the link for "a.) funny", which is iheartchaos.com, doesn't seem to be talking about the video being funny at all. It's the author responding to people who asked for the video by saying, "sorry but ESPN is suing everyone, and it's fuzzy quality anyway."

  16. Ayla says:
    Thu, 23rd Jul 20094:04 am 

    Curt said: "Feminists is a counter culter movement becuase the vast majority of culture does not heed its ethos. Yes most women are not feminists and there will never be a time where most are."

    So, you're saying that the vast majority do not believe in equality for women, and most women do not want the same rights as men?

    I really wish people wouldn't immediately associate feminism with radicalism; it's like associating all Christians with the KKK. Not cool.

  17. kirk says:
    Thu, 23rd Jul 20097:40 am 

    id love to do unbelieveable things to her if i had a chance to date her but the video thing was way off line and i wont feed in to that vile act of cowardice shes a fine lady and is trying real hard in a male dominant atmosphere of sports. i love sex more than the average man, but that was surely tasteless. shes an angel and is woking on making our sports more enjoyable. why did some asshole try to ruin it for all of us and give her a heart ache and grief. not to mention mistrust any male figure with any possibility of dating her, so yeah i wanna kick the stupid bastard in the groin when i find him

  18. sauer kraut says:
    Thu, 23rd Jul 200910:28 am 

    She's got a decent bod so this won't hurt her career. But I have to ask… what kind of hotel still has keyholes? And why didn't she do all her hair and body stuff in the bathroom instead of totally nekkit in front of the door?

  19. ginger says:
    Thu, 23rd Jul 200912:11 pm 

    regardless if she "wears a short skirt and pumps" in front of men, no HUMAN deserves to be treated like that. thats like saying a girl who wears a short skirt to a nightclub deserves to get raped, or a white man walking down the street in harlem deserves to get mugged. Men (as a whole in the present society we live in, not individual cases) tend to forget that women, especially attractive ones, are actually-gasp-PEOPLE! that don't want to have sex with them! or don't want to be taped naked! Even though this will get her some publicity or whatever, but can you imagine how paranoid she is going to be the rest of her life? what if it was a stalker? this kind of thing happens to regular women all the time and no one gives a sh*t. people only care about stalkers and peeping toms AFTER they kill/rape/torture the women they've been stalking for weeks or months. the fact that this isn't a huge outrage to everyone or that some people think its funny or sexy is f*cking disgusting and makes me hate people.

  20. Lauren says:
    Mon, 27th Jul 20099:23 am 

    This incident totally demonstrates the broadcast industry's sexist treatment of women on camera, particularly in sports journalism. As a woman on ESPN, she is treated as eye-candy because her audience is primarily male; there are so few female journalists in sports relative to males that women are pressured to use their looks to get the job/entertain their viewers. I think that's why the pervert who filmed her didn't have a problem with what he did. I truly feel bad for her- I'm sure she's had to work really hard and put up with a lot of crap to get where she is as a journalist.

  21. Dude says:
    Mon, 27th Jul 20097:22 pm 

    Lauren, Erin Andrews aside (even then) there are hotter women hosting the evening news than there are at ESPN. Beleive me I've looked. And by "looked", I mean staking out in their parking lot until the late evening.

    You people are the biggest hypocrites. No one forces any women anywhere to do anything. So sorry the free market of sports enterprise has to consumer demand for ugly chicks with an amish closet.

  22. MLG says:
    Wed, 29th Jul 20094:23 pm 

    Why is this about women?

    Seriously. Someone got horny and decided to violate the privacy of a person of the gender they were attracted to. It's not about objectifying women – it is, as far as I know, about an individual choosing to commit a criminal violation of privacy for their own personal gratification (or, possibly, financial benefit) and the gratification of other viewers. Why is this individual's crime an attack on women as a whole?

  23. dave milne says:
    Thu, 30th Jul 20097:49 pm 

    Lady you are crazy – have you even watched the video? It is terrific! Not only is she hot, it is so cute how paranoid she is about her ass getting flabby, she must check it like 7 times from 4 different angles (great angles!) and she does these little mini squats to tone it up. I mean this guy really hit the jackpot. In terms of her career being in jeopardy, are you kidding me?? This will vault her from the periphery to center stage. Not sure you would want your nasty greasy body out there, but some women have it and they are under no illusion about how to leverage it. This is pure marketing genius, and whoever her manager is deserves a raise. I wasnt a fan of hers before, but I am now. There is no difference between this and a singer in playboy, man I wish you had been around to share your wisdom with Madonna and warn her before she did the same thing… Kudos to the guy that put this together, and go Erin – keep that long hair and sexy body and dont let the rosie o'donnell tribe of shapeless jealous unshaven women make you their poster girl, you are ours!!

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