Women Who Serve: Dick Enberg

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Dear ESPN...

Please--fire Dick Enberg. Now.

It enraged me that he got away with making a sexual remark to Kim Clijsters right after she won the 2005 U.S. Open (I wouldn't have lost any sleep if Clijsters had slapped him). Since then, he has repeatedly made remarks about female players' bodies, and not in a tennis-oriented way. Today, his expression of interest in Serena Williams' backside was the end-all.

The repeated public expression of lust is not only inappropriate, but also demeaning to the tour's women (well, maybe not Nicole Vaidisova or Ashley Harkleroad), who already have so much trouble getting people to watch them for their athletic ability.

About the blog author

Diane Elayne Dees is a writer, a retired psychotherapist, a former speech communication instructor, and a former public relations specialist. She is also a life-long fan of women's professional tennis.

For several years, Diane published the progressive blog, The Dees Diversion, and she also contributed regularly to the Mother Jones MoJo Blog. Diane has published political essays, short fiction and creative nonfiction. For the past several years, she has concentrated on writing poetry.

A nine-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Diane has published four poetry chapbooks, Coronary Truth (Kelsay Books), The Last Time I Saw You, (Finishing Line Press), The Wild Parrots of Marigny (Querencia Press), and I Can't Recall Exactly When I Died (Kelsay Books). (See ordering information at the top of the page.)

She has also published four microchaps with the Origami Poems Project: Beach Days, Pandemic Times, Missing Amy, and Yogic Truth. Her nature poetry was read on Martha Stewart Living Radio's "The Naturalist's Datebook."