Women aren’t supposed to have opinions about sports, unless it’s considered sufficiently girly — say, figure-skating, or literally any sport in which the players are female.
So spare a thought for the brave women who make their careers being experts in sports — writers, broadcasters, referees — whose Twitter feeds are crowded with threats, vitriol and unsolicited opinions about their appearance.
Women such as Erin Molan.
The sports reporter quit the Kyle and Jackie O Show on KIIS FM last year after being quizzed on air about whether or not she’d had a breast enlargement, and how many sportsman she’d slept with.
The ever-charming Kyle Sandilands informed her that “no one is listening” after she actually tried to steer the conversation back towards sports.
“And as this will be my final week, I’d like to say thank you so much for having me,” she said graciously, by way of quitting live on air.
Molan, who also appears on Channel Nine’s The Footy Show told News.com.au that sexism is and continues to be just part of the job.
“When I started I got a lot of ‘you should be in the kitchen’, and those were the nice ones,” she said.
“I’ve copped some nasty tweets and comments. You always see them, but I’m much better at dealing with them now. You’ve got to have a good support network and be in a good place. If I’m feeling tired and vulnerable, it will affect me more.”
Top Comments
Kinda surprised that bitch was ***** out but cunt wasn't.......................?
This was how my day at work started today - I was called a "bullshit scumbag" on twitter. Not necessarily sexist but definitely malicious.