This is one of three views to be published on the site today. You may read the others here and here. Views are not necessarily those of teenAGE or Jamaica Observer.

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Jamaica’s very own world class cricketer, Chris Gayle, is the subject of many headlines after he propositioned a female reporter whilst she was interviewing him after a cricket match. Following the incident Chris was ordered to pay a fine of a hefty sum of cash, which will be donated to a charity, for being inappropriate, disrespectful and inadvertently promoting sexism. The decision of the fine was met with mixed reactions however as some were of the view that he was merely flirting, while many were in agreement with the fine and its reasons. That said, it is simply not possible for me to understand why people think what the cricketer said was okay.

Some people are of the view that “feminazi’s” are dumping sexist claims on the exchange, thus making the situation seem worse than it was. This is really not so. We need to stop looking at situations like these as isolated incidents and more like small cuts that are a part of a huge gash. The fact is, women being seen as a pretty face or a piece of meat in the work place is a problem that has been within the working world for centuries. Mr. Gayle and the reporter were in a professional environment where they were temporary co-workers; it was absolutely inappropriate and disrespectful for him to proposition the reporter. He essentially reduced her role as a reporter and saw her only as another woman to conquer.

Many individuals are also of the belief that it was simply harmless flirting, however, that was clearly not so for his advances were not returned, in fact they were immediately shut down. The reporter’s facial expressions and body language should have stopped Mr Gayle in the middle of the first sentence of his inappropriate comments, yet he insisted. It was clear he found joy in the unease of the reporter, he looked up to assumingly laugh with someone off screen.

Even the commentators, who were also male could be heard laughing at this woman’s discomfort. In that instant it seemed as if Gayle simply propositioned the reporter to mock her and make himself feel powerful, like many guys surrounded by other males would do. It was like cat-calling, only they weren’t on the street.