Female reporters and their sexist male sources

As a young female reporter, I was totally unsurprised to read Sarah Ball's Newsweek magazine interview with action star Jean-Claude Van Damme last week, in which Van Damme comes on to 22-year-old Ball. Ball asks him about his new autobiographical film, "JCVD." But the interview goes irrevocably off-track, with Van Damme propositioning the journalist. To wit:

So you've no regrets at all?
Believe me—I've done very good stuff and very crazy stuff, and I don't regret the crazy stuff. So are you in New York?

Yes, I am.
And are you 27, or 32?

I'm 22.
Oh, f–––. That is very young. Will you come to the premiere?

I don't know. When is it?
I don't know. You will wear all black, a black dress and high heels?

Uh —
You can come find me, I will be the one with the very broad shoulders, dark hair and a simple suit. We can have some champagne, you and me.

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Reading the interview, I recognized myself in Ball. She replied to Van Damme with stifled, one-word answers, trying desperately to re-route the conversation. She likely waffled between wanting to tell Van Damme off and hoping to keep the interview going for professional reasons. The story reminded me of the infamous Jane magazine interview in which reporter Claudine Ko spent several weeks with American Apparel founder Dov Charney with the intention of writing about fair labor practices. Instead, she found herself watching Charney masturbate on a regular basis. Once, he told her "You're it, you're the classic girl. You're relaxed, you're confident, your hair looks great, you're taking notes. Your [butt] looks good."

I've also faced sexist encounters with male sources. But unlike Ball and Ko, I never thought to print the interactions. Until now. Unlike most women, female reporters have a venue to hash out their daily conversations. And if those discussions happen to veer into sexist, unprofessional territory, then we need to print those as well.

Over the past three years, I have had countless gendered conversations in my professional life. But three of them stick out in my mind as particularly egregious:

-When I was an intern at the Salt Lake City Weekly, I interviewed an Orthodox Jewish man whose congregation was being evicted from its temple by a rival Jewish group. The man was extremely suspicious of the press mishandling the story. As a Jew, I told him that I understood the cultural context of the situation. But instead of opening up to me, the man berated me for not being "Jewish" enough (I'm Reform, not Orthodox), insinuating that I was a promiscuous non-believer because I was wearing a V-neck shirt.

-As a reporter at the Colorado Springs Independent, I interviewed an underdog candidate running for city council at his home. After the interview, we chatted in his kitchen for a few minutes and he said, "You're a young girl. How old are you?" I was 23 at the time. "You're just a pup!" he replied.

-At the Colorado Springs Independent, I interviewed the director of the city's Democratic Party on a regular basis. I once ran into him at a rally for a congressional candidate and he said "hello" by patting me on the butt with a book.

At the time of the incidents, I felt too surprised, too paralyzed to respond. I discussed the interactions with my editors and several were dismayed at my sources' behavior. But none of them took action on my behalf. From now on, I'll attempt to take the Ball and Ko route by publicly shaming the men who undermine my professionalism with seedy, slimy remarks. -Naomi