Saturday, September 18, 2010

The clothes makes the woman

Reporter Inez Sainz has the right to wear whatever she wants. Jeans that cling like a second skin, belly-baring tops, necklines that just about burst with cleavage.  It's all her choice.  I'm guessing her employer, the Mexican television channel Azteca, does not have much of a dress policy, or it has decided to follow the mantra 'sex sells' and to let Ms. Sainz sell the station's programming the best she knew how.

Now there is absolutely no excuse for the juvenile behavior of the New York Jets coaches and players in the locker room last Saturday, but Sainz would be more than disingenuous if she said the behavior was surprising.  I suspect the sports reporter has found that her style opens many locker doors, giving her access to teams and athletes.   I have no doubt that she understands fully that her clothes play a role in how she is perceived and how she gets her job done.

We must always remember that claiming our freedoms require us to also claim responsibilities and acceptance of consequences.  Young (mostly) black men have the right to wear their pants under their behinds to show off their colorful boxers, boxer-briefs and tighty-whities.  When they unwrap that right, they cannot leave societal assumptions in the box.  There is no complaining about societal perceptions and judgments when anyone wears a look associated with criminals.  Police officers will slow down as they walk by, shopkeepers and store clerks will put their hand to hover just over the silent alarm when they enter, and women will give them wide berth and clutch their purses when they see them.

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