Jeff Pearlman is the author of a few great sports books, and generally well-liked in sports media. But on Tuesday, he proved that no matter who you are, it’s never a good idea as a man to tell women how to dress. And it’s an even worse idea to shame them by equating them with “hookers.”
.@jeffpearlman Calling journalists “hookers” is precisely the objectification of women you’re talking about: pic.twitter.com/i3ZtqQosRX
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) January 12, 2016
The above screen-captured tweet was deleted, but Pearlman’s follow-ups were not, and even though his heart might be in the right place, he still acts like a shining white knight for an issue that his comments are only helping to reinforce: that the rules about women’s bodies and how they display them are ultimately up to men.
@SteveKrak Steve, I did NOT call the women hookers. I said Fox News has its women dress like them. Which it does. Degrades women journalists
— Jeff Pearlman (@jeffpearlman) January 12, 2016
Let me re-phrase: are tons of women journalists busting asses w skill, doggedness, professionalism. Fox News CLEARLY after looks, wardrobe
— Jeff Pearlman (@jeffpearlman) January 12, 2016
Just fed up w objectification of women in media. It's tired, old, widespread, not cool. #done
— Jeff Pearlman (@jeffpearlman) January 12, 2016
Ok, I admit, bad Tweet, removed. I just really object to Fox News' approach. But that's not the on-air person's fault.
— Jeff Pearlman (@jeffpearlman) January 12, 2016
Even though he raises a good point or two, the damage of his horrific description of Fox News reporters was done. Twitter let him have it.
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/687180059426160640
@jeffpearlman pretty sure dismissing a woman's achievements as a function of "looks, wardrobe" is the definition of sexism.
— Chapin D. Fay (@chapinfay) January 12, 2016
https://twitter.com/Sen_Armstrong/status/687243093343649792
You're right, none of the good looking women at Fox are accomplished at all @jeffpearlman! We're just lawyers, reporters, authors, etc.
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) January 13, 2016
@jeffpearlman So not only are they hookers, you are also questioning their resumes and declaring them not up to snuff. You are a treat.
— Shaner (@shaner5000) January 12, 2016
And, naturally, his Wikipedia page was updated to reflect the incident:
https://twitter.com/martinrickman/status/687311138401292289
Even worse for Pearlman, Twitter started digging, and they found that it’s not the first time Pearlman has taken misogynistic views on women’s bodies and style:
Flashback: More on @JeffPearlman ’s idea of anti-objectifying women https://t.co/q7CCBjuP5a
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) January 12, 2016
https://twitter.com/jeffpearlman/status/407915121747312640
That last one, taken from 2013, is particularly damning. Styles change with the time, and for a man to blame a woman for how he views them is the essence of sexism. What’s worse is how he asks if it’s “weird to notice.” It’s not an explicitly sexualized comment, but when a fully grown adult is referencing high school students, accusing them of dressing like sex workers, and then making strangely worded statements about “noticing,” alarm bells should justifiably go off.
Of course, now we know that Pearlman equates “hooker clothes” with “female reporter attire,” those sound like some smartly dressed high-schoolers. Either way, it’s probably best if Pearlman doesn’t make any more criticisms about how women dress. It always does more harm than good.