In the world according to U.S. News & World Report contributing editor Bonnie Erbe, voyeuristic video of a female sportscaster primping naked in a hotel mirror is ultimately, in part, the blame of female sportscasters and sports fans.
In Erbe's July 27 blog post, the PBS "To the Contrary" host notes that she wishes "women would stop propping up men's sports" and that this type of a perverted incident would not happen "if women didn't attend NFL games or NBA games, or even watch them on TV to help drive up ratings."
Erbe adds that if they do this, "they would be doing more to stop men from behaving badly than they could ever do otherwise." By that logic, women should just stay out of anything that is predominantly male, in order to keep men from fantasizing and becoming perverts. Erbe went on to explain the popularity of the story on the Internet by explaining, without any awareness of the irony that:
Story Continues Below Ad ↓[t]he story exploded anew after that, with a second round of echo-chamber effect in the blogosphere. Everyone has an opinion. That's the Wild West we today call the blogosphere.
Shouldn't Erbe, who's clearly shooting from the hip with her swipe at women who love sports, take her own advice and cease firing?
No such luck. The purposely "child-free" reporter went on to lecture that if parents encouraged "their sons to play sports instead of paying to watch other people play baseball or football or basketball or soccer, they would be sending the message that athleticism is good, but pro sports culture is bad. And it is, nothing but bad."
With Bonnie Erbe's logic, parents shouldn't try to educate their kids on politics, keeping up on the news, or how our government works either, because in doing so they would be promoting the perverts that have come into the limelight in government and journalism over the years.
The key issue here is not the "sports culture" which both American men and women celebrate, it is the decency of men and women in our society.
By blaming anything or anyone other than the culprit, the person(s) who video taped Andrews and placed the video online, in a sense Erbe blames the victim, something to which she is not new.
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I think Erbe would look really great in a full burqa
July 28, 2009 - 15:39 ET by SickofLibsI think Erbe would look really great in a full burqa.
Black.
And if she never left her house, that would be great, too.
We need to teach our
July 28, 2009 - 15:41 ET by ex buff e-dubWe need to teach our children not to be a reading culture. That way we won't propagate moronic writing like hers...
The Obvious Solution
July 28, 2009 - 15:42 ET by JustAlIs to have all women in media wear burka's, (her's should be air tight).
Cloned Sperm
July 28, 2009 - 15:43 ET by Nortowill keep women away from the baby making event, so she is right up to progressive, feminist speed.
It all makes sense, just like not watching the NBA, etc.
speechless
July 28, 2009 - 15:46 ET by BKeyserThis is all I could think of after reading this post.
How about a burkha too?
July 28, 2009 - 15:48 ET by RousseAnd maybe women should start wearing burkhas or at least the hijab, so men could not see their bodies or hair, and thus be enflamed by lust. You go first, Bonnie.
Erbe is a complete
July 28, 2009 - 15:51 ET by bigtimerErbe is a complete nut-case.
I'm serious too.
Certifiable.
You could write so much about this gal, but I won't waste my time on someone like her...she is beyond reach into the real world, she needs help...psychiatric help...a run don't walk situation.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Eeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrbe!
July 28, 2009 - 23:35 ET by blazermaniacBonnie is just looking for any attention. She gets none from her audience of five on PMS! Bonnie is also jealous because very few people know whom the hell she is. And that is a good thing!
Child-free
July 28, 2009 - 15:52 ET by jdlybrandWell duh. Probably has vaginal cobwebs.
"What a revoltin' development this is!"
Chester Riley
What women are watching
July 28, 2009 - 16:00 ET by balboaWhat women are watching sports to only "prop them up"? That makes no sense.
If you want to talk about the reverse, you only have to look at the WNBA, which is completely propped up by the NBA. That league would fold without the NBA.
BALBOA...
July 28, 2009 - 21:37 ET by danybhoyYour are spot on about the WNBA, it could'nt survive without the NBA. But then again, look at NCAA sports, most college sports, not just women's sports, rely on the money produced by the 2 moneymakers, football & basketball. It's all about Title9, & I like women's(tennis, golf, & soccer) sports, but the facts are that women's sport does'nt produce financially.
"It's still "We the people", right?" megadeth
I don't mind that football
July 28, 2009 - 22:10 ET by balboaI don't mind that football and basketball help fund all the other sports in college. I think college sports should have a large number of opportunities for men and women.
Women's tennis and volleyball are more interesting to me than their male counterparts, I should say. And women's soccer is good stuff.
I agree, bal
July 29, 2009 - 00:06 ET by candanceSome sports will just never have the same broad appeal as football and basketball. But no one should begrudge the success those two sports enjoy, and we can't ignore the fact that a lot of their revenue allows for scholarships and cheaper tuition.
Women are definitely better at tennis and volleyball. Figure skating and cheerleading too.
are all the leftists ugly
July 28, 2009 - 16:27 ET by sevenIf guys find her pretty, they must have a problem with perversion
I bet...
July 28, 2009 - 16:32 ET by jdlybrand...Axelrod thinks she's hot!
"What a revoltin' development this is!"
Chester Riley
BLAME THE VICTIM...
July 28, 2009 - 21:43 ET by danybhoySo she was asking for something like this to happen? Is that what this Erbe is implying?
Sounds like the idiots who downplay the sexual assult of a woman who meets some guy at a club & gets some of the blame for dressing in a short skirt & looking hot. I don't buy into that line of thought. No decent person would, & I put Erbe into that group.
"It's still "We the people", right?" megadeth
Erbe is determined to
July 28, 2009 - 16:33 ET by celatorErbe is determined to continuously illustrate how detached Old Useless Media reporters are from the basic American experience the rest of us enjoy. Here she does it again.
But there's a dangerous undertone to her statements as well as those made by others of her ilk: they have a righteous view of how Americans should live their lives, what they should be allowed to do, what values they should have, etc. We should be allowed only what THEY think we should be allowed. No more.
Totalitarian extremists always begin our journey to the Gulags this way.
Very much like Obama, ACORN, and the rest of the left wing radicals in Congress.
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
cel... Excellent
July 28, 2009 - 17:54 ET by bigtimercel...
Excellent points....that is the direction the leftist party does want to go with O leading the way....it is more obvious daily to some people finally waking up...I just hope it's not to late, we shall see in '10, if we get real votes counted that is.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
BT..Agreed. My prayer is
July 28, 2009 - 18:16 ET by celatorBT..Agreed. My prayer is that American voters wake up before it's too late. We need to be informed, well read and active. And then vote!
BTW, isn't Erbe the one who was advising the Vatican about what policies of the Catholic Church she wanted changed in order to meet her approval? Seems to me she was the one.
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
Eh, rather than try to make
July 28, 2009 - 16:39 ET by Mike SargentEh, rather than try to make sense out of a Bonnie Erbe piece, I figure I'll just further the absurdity. It's much more fun for me that way.
It's our fault that Bonnie Erbe is such a doofus. I mean really -- without NewsBusters and the blogosphere, nobody would pay attention to her anymore. And everybody knows that blogs only pay attention to sensationalistic things, like badly-run tabloids, right?
Riiiiiight?
So in order to get any attention at all, she has to write clearly dumb things -- philosophically and intellectually bankrupt things, in order to stir up controversy and get paid to write. Thus it's all our fault that Bonnie Erbe writes such idiotic things.
Our bad, Ms. Erbe. We would apologize, but it seems that you're at fault for our boorish behavior.
Yes, that's right: Erbe is at fault for the blogosphere being at fault for Erbe's inanity.
You see, if Erbe and her media cohorts weren't such a collection of mental midgets, we'd have nothing controversial to write about. And we'd be out of business, since we'd have no controversial product to sell to you, our beloved readers.
Thus, it's Erbe's fault that the blogosphere is at fault for Erbe's intellectual ineptitude.
Confused yet? That's what happens when you engage in intellectual contortionism, trying to blame the victim for the crime. And Erin Andrews, who is utterly smokin', is a victim of a horrible crime. I won't go looking for this video because I'm not the stereotypical male that Erbe writes about -- I'm not the guy that puts up with that, that indulges in the exploitative side of physical beauty. I'm the good guy, the guy you always wanted your daughter to bring home -- and it royally pisses me off when jerkweed psuedo-feminists like Erbe slander me by lumping me in with lesser men.
I'm better than that. Erbe clearly isn't.
Bona fide idiot
July 28, 2009 - 17:38 ET by GalvanicAnd if sports broadcasters excluded women from their staffs, Erbe would be tellng us that men's sports would be far more equitable and suitable for female fans if they employed women.
July 28, 2009 - 18:02 ET by jessieHI don't care what this witch has to say, but if she messes with my football, I'll hold her 25 cats by the tail till she stops!!!!!
Two Words
July 28, 2009 - 20:00 ET by BarkerRosanne Rosannadanna
Comments
July 28, 2009 - 21:42 ET by Birch BarlowEven though the blog post is incredibly stupid, the comments provide some enjoyable reading.
Parenting advice from
July 28, 2009 - 21:52 ET by Radical1979Parenting advice from someone who is childfree is as useless as military strategy from a pacifist.
Personally, I think taking my son to church, having a mother-son relationship, and seeing how my husband and I treat one another, will keep him from being a pervert like she's talking about.
I'm glad he likes pro sports and predominantly male stuff, because that's what he is.
Erbe is an idiot.
I slightly disagree, radical
July 28, 2009 - 22:04 ET by candanceI don't think anyone, parent or not, should lecture others on how to raise children. That said, childless people have been known to offer some good free advice now and then.
I guess it depends on who
July 28, 2009 - 22:09 ET by Radical1979I guess it depends on who gives the advice. I've heard Oprah to many times talk about children being "little people" as if they were small adults.
I also know before I had children I thought "my child will never do ___". Little did I know my children would so do ___"!
It's a blessing she has no children...
July 29, 2009 - 09:09 ET by JohnMcGrew...especially boys. Can you imagine the damage this woman could do if she actually had control over raising anybody?
By that logic, women
July 28, 2009 - 21:53 ET by moderncommentaries83So professional sports - relatively wholesome, physical contests that are wholly legal and do no intentional harm to another being - are what cause men to "behave badly"...but...
...abortion (which Erbe enthusiastically supports) does not make men into perverts and users? It sure gets them off the hook when it comes to being decent husbands and fathers.
And aren't feminists all about making women into men? Aren't women - according to feminists - exactly the same as men and interchangable? So now we're not supposed to engage in behavior that is "predominantly male"?
Once again, a prominent liberal feminist throws a woman under the bus for not toeing the liberal feminist line...
Aut viam inveniam aut faciam
groundwork
July 28, 2009 - 21:56 ET by Free StinkerI think this may be laying the groundwork so others can criticise Sarah Palin for playing basketball and running marathons.
"Like Bush, she has a creepy obsession with fitness . . . " --Garden Variety MSM Stenographer
Just sayin'
"Gov. Palin has been subjected to one of the most massive and dishonest pile-on smear attacks in the history of liberal media." -- Lowell Ponte
translation:
July 28, 2009 - 21:59 ET by candanceThat pretty blonde lady doesn't deserve to hang out with cute athletes! She's just an airhead anyway!
And Marie's article is right on point. By this logic women should avoid any situation where a man would be tempted to act like a jerk. So let's repeal all those sex discrimination laws, pull women out of the work force, and have us all stay in the kitchen wearing moo moos so that other men won't be driven to lust.
This proves once again that liberals are fine with oppression as long as their friends are oppressors.
By this logic women should
July 28, 2009 - 22:03 ET by Radical1979By this logic women should avoid any situation where a man would be tempted to act like a jerk. So let's repeal all those sex discrimination laws, pull women out of the work force, and have us all stay in the kitchen wearing moo moos so that other men won't be driven to lust.
Sounds like Islam...Maybe that's what libs are driving at... (shiver)
This woman is crazy
July 28, 2009 - 23:38 ET by shawn228....but I would not classify this as liberal bias. In fact I would say easily that the majority of liberals would not agree with this lunatic.
"I swear sometimes the self-appointed moral police are as obnoxious and demanding of big government interference as "environmentalist" gun control advocates, labor unions and trial lawyers" ~fitzfong
<
I agree
July 29, 2009 - 08:15 ET by RoloTI agree with one of her points: Feel free to eliminate the vacuous female (and male) sideline reporterettes from both NCAA and Pro football. Along with the endless commercials, promos and other stoppages, they have ruined football on TV. Back in the day, Jack Arute was the first sideline reporter. He said that he would be on camera maybe two times per game (injuries, etc). Compare that with espn's coverage of MNF where the TWO reporterettes are on camera an average of 25 times per game. Sorry to get so far off subject, but these people are ruining football on TV.
Reporterettes
July 29, 2009 - 08:22 ET by BlondeLet's start with Brett Mussberger. Sheesh, I can't stand that guy and I cringe when my Gators play when he's behind the mike.
While I see no problem with women reporting sports, I do find it rather silly to see women in the locker room after a game....it just seems as though that is counter-intuitive....the guys can't just be themselves, so what's the point of having a reporter there in the first place?
I do really enjoy the lady (name?) who rides the horse and interviews the jockeys, though. That innovation was a big plus to the viewing experience.
I hope he fails, too.
So wrong on so many levels
July 29, 2009 - 09:17 ET by ReaverSo wrong on so many levels it almost defies belief. Almost.
If stupidity got us into this mess,
then why can't it get us out?
--Will Rogers