Upon first hearing the story of Erin Andrews, our blood might boil. Feelings of anger and sympathy might be invoked--perhaps even guilt, by avidly following the story that stems from inappropriate obsessions with popular figures. But, instead of using this story to just continue society's voyeuristic escalations, there appear to be at least a few lessons we can use.
Andrews, a popular ESPN women reporter, was unknowingly videotaped while alone in her hotel room, a tape which soon hit the Internet. The media-at-large soon picked up the story, drawing a quickly expanding number of people's horror and fascination with the story.
One lesson, unfortunately, is that objectification is still an issue. Sure, the lawyer world might not have as big of a concern with it as television sportscasting, but extra professionalism is never a bad thing.
Another lesson is that it highlights that several professions are still male-dominated, and what is appropriate for people to say about women and our expectations of women in those professions feels like treatment from decades ago. A surprising amount of people have reacted to this story by stating that she shares the blame by her outfits and her position of popularity in the sports world.
And finally, although this lesson is a little off-topic, it shows the great gaping hole that is Internet law. Not only in the fact that it is a vehicle used to reach the masses quickly, but that others can quickly capitalize on wrongly posted items.
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