Sports Reporter Dyes Her Hair, Highlights the Sexism That Women Face in Sports

It’s not easy being a female sports reporter. Women are as vastly outnumbered as they are in newsrooms, subjected to sexism in the media, and are frequently criticized for their appearance. This is something Fox Sports reporter Charissa Thompson knows all too well, according to an interview with the journalist that will air on the Aug. 23 episode of HBO’s Real Sports.

Thompson recounts starting her career as a sports reporter eight years ago, coming to the conclusion that she would dye her hair from blond to brunette to be taken more seriously in the field. “It’s a complete departure from what I look like the week before,” she recalled in the interview. “I was just sick of being blond, and I wanted to rid myself of the Barbie thing.”

The reaction? Deadspin’s headline read: “Charissa Thompson Continues Down Suicidal Path to Frumpyville.” How did she feel about that? “Awful,” Thompson said. “Because now I’m doing this for credibility, and I’m not getting the credibility. I’m just getting attention now for being ugly.”

Read Entire Yahoo Lifestyle Article

About the Author: DrStefanieKJohnson

Dr. Stefanie K. Johnson is an Associate Professor of Management at the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder. She holds a Ph.D. from Rice University and is particularly interested in the effects of unconscious biases in the evaluation of women and minorities, with the goal of finding ways to mitigate those biases. Dr. Johnson brings bias to light with an engaging and humorous approach to advanced scientific research, which has earned her numerous accolades and invitations to present her work at meetings around the world, including the White House for a 2016 summit on diversity in corporate America on National Equal Pay Day, and the 2016 Harvard Negotiation and Leadership Conference. She has published over 70 journal articles and book chapters in outlets such as Harvard Business Review, Journal of Applied Psychology and The Academy of Management Journal. She has extensive consulting experience and has created and delivered leadership-development training with an emphasis on evidence-based practice. In recognition of her unique research, Dr. Johnson has been awarded nearly three million dollars in external funding to study leadership and create leadership development programs aimed at increasing safety. Media outlets featuring her work include: The Economist, Newsweek, Time, and CNN. Stefanie lives in the Boulder Bubble in Colorado with her Biology Professor husband, two young kiddos, and two old kitties.