Lizzylou, thats part of my point.
What does THAT tell you? Is that sexism on the part of the employer? Which seemed to be the inference of the OP.
And yes, given the nature of their job, I DO believe male newsreaders should keep in decent shape and appearance as much as women. Many of them get sent on foreign assignment, sometimes to difficult areas of the world... Getting people to respond to you and give interviews mean first impressions can be crucial. Appearance therefore does have a significant role to play in the job.
Dozer in terms of the news print thing, I think theres a hell of a lot of things going on. I don't think its purely about sexism. I think its WAY more complicated, and in part down to the way men and women are brought up. Women tend not to be as competitive as men. I appreciate that I am generalising here, but given its just such a competitive industry to get into, it means that only the most competitive even have a chance from the world go. (There are 10,000 places on media courses at university in the UK - there are approx 10,000 jobs in the ENTIRE industry for an insite into just how tough).
You want to know why I didn't persue a career in media? I personally didn't feel able to be cut throat enough, and wasn't prepared to walk all over my rivals in order to get to the top. I didn't have that competitive streak and I didn't have that same single mindedness. I do think they are two things that women are actively discouraged from being - very often by their female counterparts, rather than by males. Boys on the other hand are more actively encouraged to be competitive from an early age. Women don't seem like other women who stand out or try and be successful. I don't know why, but it threatens them. It makes it a very difficult starting point to go from as a woman compared to a man before you even start getting into any suggestion of sexism in the industry.
The thing that put me off most though, was the number of girls on my media course who openly admitted the fact that they would actively use their sexuality to advance their career and would sleep with a boss to get a promotion (17 out of 19 of us) It REALLY shocked me. This was 1998. I just wasn't prepared to sell my soul in the end as I felt I had no chance against girls who were prepared to go to those lengths.
Whether that was the reality in the end, I have no idea about. I doubt it was, but it was the fact that I didn't have that level of drive.
I do wonder how many of them actually did get into the industry and whether 'using their sexuality' would have actually helped or hindered them in getting taken seriously and viewed as professionals. Whilst I have no doubts that sexism is rife within some quarters of the media, I don't think women throwing themselves at men in the way that those on my course actively advocated makes men respect them or more likely to employ them in the end. Its not professional behaviour. I think that in the end if they had actually gone through with it and showed that attitude some of them had would definitely had a counterproductive effect. The coming off as 'desperate' approach.
When you do look at who is successful in the printed press, you end up looking at the likes of Rebekah Brooks. And she's about the worst example I can think of as a role model. By all accounts she was a pretty poor actual journalist and it was everything to do with her smoozing abilities. And don't even get me started on Liz Jones. And I can't take a lot of the broadsheet female journalists much more seriously either. I don't think ANY of these women really do themselves many favours in how other women look at themselves and each other. Or indeed men are. I question whether they write 'for women' or as part of a wider 'sexist agenda'...
The female journalists I have the greatest respect for are the ones who don't make a fuss themselves over being a woman. I have a strange fascination for all war reporters, so naturally I have huge respect for Kate Aide back in the day and now her modern day equivalent of Alex Crawford. Unfortunately though, the only thing that gets written about them is about their gender - usually by women, rather than simply aplauding them for just being amazing journalists (and it often overshadows the excellent male journalists working with them). People write about Alex Crawford having kids (whilst her husband looks after them), but they don't talk about male journalists who also have kids and are also putting themselves in the line of fire.
Its funny, its WOMEN slating OTHER WOMEN for their appearance on this thread. And then WOMEN shouting about sexism. And yet, I can't help but feel that its WOMEN that are as much of the problem as any pig headed bigot of a man...
Which is preciously why I take SOOOO much exception to other women who try and put down any other for the fact that they are slim. I really think we are our own worst enemy now, at fighting inequalities.