TikToker accuses ESPN of deliberate sexualization at sports event

The sexualization of women is a common phenomenon in widely understood media. Photos of female soccer fans dressed in tight clothes or recordings of women eating ice cream, lollipops, or hot dogs are viral among commentators. The more embarrassing and sexist the comment, the more reactions it garners. TikToker Annie J fell victim to sexualization and began her battle with the American sports television network ESPN.

It all started at the NCAA Men's College World Series, an American baseball event in Nebraska. Annie J and a friend attended the final to cheer on the athletes. As the TikToker reported in a video about the case, "It was 38 degrees Celsius, so God forbid we were eating ice cream."

Annie J emphasizes that the television broadcast showed about 20 seconds of footage featuring her and her friend licking ice cream. According to the TikToker, the recording was made deliberately to provoke lewd comments about her sexuality and the fact that a woman was licking ice cream.

Annie J noted that a few minutes before the ice cream footage was taken, she had eaten a hot dog. She did so in a way that hid her from view, knowing that she could appear on television: "I ate a hot dog about 10 minutes earlier and made sure to eat it behind a row of people sitting in front of us, because we were sitting close to the dugout, and I was terrified that if any camera caught it, it would be recorded. What's funnier than a woman eating ice cream or hot dogs, something that could be overly sexualized? But ESPN can keep it ambiguous enough that ambiguity protects them while they open the door for freaking weirdos who can do with it what they want. Maybe let's just behave better and not knowingly record women in the stands at sports games doing such things. As if I was doing something wrong trying to avoid heat stroke."

The TikToker adds, "I didn't ask to be on television. In fact, no one asked us if we wanted to be on TV. We thought we might end up on the Jumbotron, because when you're at the stadium, you know that's something that could happen. But within minutes, literally, we saw our faces on the phones of the people sitting around us, laughing about it. I can only imagine what those messages contained."

Ending the video, Annie J addressed the television station that aired the footage of her: "Stop contributing to the problem and stop making sports a place where women don't feel safe and welcome. We can't eat in peace, we can't wear clothes in peace, we literally can't do anything without it being sexualized and taken completely out of context. It's not a problem showing us on TV. We were there the whole game. You could've shown us at any time watching the game. Do a close-up when we were fanning ourselves because it was so hot there."