TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz (Courtesy: Reuters)

One of the major tragedies in American culture is the tendency to blame the victim when something goes wrong.

Enter Ines Sainz, the New York TV Azteca reporter who was harassed and catcalled by members of the New York Jets last week, sparking a firestorm of opinion and misplaced feelings on women reporters in professional locker rooms.

The story isn’t new; in fact, it follows the exact story arc of every female-in-the-clubhouse story ever recorded. An attractive reporter tries to get work done in a testosterone-charged atmosphere and someone makes an inappropriate comment or commits some sort of numb-skulled action.

Then, the debate about whether female reporters have a place in the locker room reignites and someone, somewhere, exacerbates the problem by saying that the woman “should know it’s a possibility” or “shouldn’t dress that way” or that “she had it coming.”

Hence the inane blame on the victim. Sainz did nothing wrong. She has a job to do and the professionals she was surrounded by acted like junior high schoolers at their first winter dance.

And then there’s Clinton Portis and Darnell Dockett.

The Washington Redskins running back’s comments on 106.7 The Fan in Washington on Tuesday speak for themselves about just how ill-educated and shallow he is:

I think you put women reporters in the locker room in position to see guys walking around naked, and you sit in the locker room with 53 guys, and all of the sudden you see a nice woman in the locker room. I think men are going to tend to turn and look and want to say something to that woman…somebody got to spark her interest, or she’s going to want somebody. I don’t know what kind of woman won’t, if you get to go and look at 53 men’s [bodies].

If only we all had that problem.

Later on in the day, Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Darnell Dockett voiced his own “opinion” on the topic:

Let’s get one thing straight: women have a place in the locker room. The idea that a female reporter doesn’t have a place to do the same job covering sports as a male counterpart is ludicrous.

The most asinine argument I’ve heard from multiple people is that Sainz dressed too provocatively for being around a football team, thereby, she should have expected dressing that way would garner unwanted, lewd attention.

Am I supposed to ever take Clinton Portis seriously? (Courtesy: NFL Network)

That’s where the false victimization comes into play. Sainz can wear whatever she wants. The only thing she’s wearing that really matters is a press credential. If she has access, she deserves the utmost respect by players, coaches and officials regardless of gender. Methinks if a male reporter showed up to cover a Phoenix Mercury WNBA game in a tank top and bike shorts, he’d get made fun of but no one would bat an eye or make an allusion to him not being allowed into the locker room.

Or consider this simple theory: if someone is safely walking on a sidewalk and a car careens out of control and hits them, who, in their right mind, would say that person shouldn’t have been walking there? Same thing.

Portis’ comments scream of sexism and an ego that won’t quit. His canned apology, hours after NFL PR guru Greg Aiello publicly took Clinton to the woodshed, doesn’t make up for the fact that he automatically thinks a female reporter would treat a locker room as her own personal meat market.

Here’s a hint: I’ve been in multiple NFL locker rooms. The only way to describe it is to compare it to a fraternity house, except full of millionaires and turbo-charged by Muscle Milk and ass-slapping. As a guy with plenty of female colleagues and friends in sports media, I can accurately tell you that these women aren’t lusting over 380-pound offensive linemen.

Dockett’s position is more simplistic – it alludes to the idea that Sainz and other female reporters should expect that kind of treatment – but it’s no less misplaced than Portis’ point of view.

The real misconception here is that athletes, as a whole, still tend to think that women can’t be sports reporters as effectively as men.

I’ve had the amazing opportunity to interview a wide variety of notable sports figures, but I think one of the conversations I value most was the one my friend Evan Doherty and I had with USA Today columnist Christine Brennan during our senior year at Arizona State.

Not only is Brennan one of the most brilliant sports minds in journalism today, she’s a hero for legions of aspiring female sportswriters across the country. She sent me a signed copy of her book a few days after our interview, which provided an incredible look into her life growing as a writer in an era where, literally, women weren’t allowed in clubhouses.

Maybe Portis and Dockett should pick it up. It’s on Amazon. They should also probably remember a few basic facts:

1)      Unbeknownst to many, women can now vote.

2)      A new study says that single women in their 20s actually make more than male colleagues.

3)      Women can now sit with men in places of worship.

4)      You were brought into this world by a woman.

As for Sainz, the argument is out there that since her “thing” is dressing provocatively, she shouldn’t be allowed to be offended when she gets catcalled.

In some skewed way, that makes a tiny shred of sense. But that argues the matter of taste; her choice in attire; rather than the behavior of the Jets.

Let’s be realistic. The natural reaction of a man to a scantily-clad woman is what it always will be. Let’s not be naïve and not think that primal responses still exist. I’m sure Sainz isn’t even that naïve. Would the chances of her getting cat-called be lessened if she were to wear more modest clothing? Of course. But does it mean she should expect to be harassed because she chooses to present herself in the way she does? Of course not.

We’re talking about a professional environment here. Ines is a professional reporter. The Jets are professional football players. Their training facility is a professional facility where both reporters and football players are trying to get their work done.

We know that we’re guests in your locker room and we act as such. Players should do their part as well.

And maybe, just maybe, one day, athletes will wake up.