Female Meteorologist Smacks Down Sexist Jerk on Facebook
Female meteorologists, much like women in every other profession and walk of life, have to put up with a lot of crap from sexist men who think they can do or say whatever they please without repercussions. One guy who got lippy with ABC News meteorologist Ginger Zee this morning got what he deserved.
A man named Brian Rice posted to Zee's Facebook page this morning with a comment about her appearance, which is (sadly) a fairly common event that female broadcast meteorologists have to deal with:
U are the most ugly weather girl i.v seen on tv don.t smile so much ur ugly
Zee responded minutes later with the composure and grace most people could only dream of when insulted in such an illiterate way:
Please get it right... In the ugliest METEOROLOGIST you've seen. Happy Friday!
She posted a screenshot of the exchange on her page with the following message:
I love people. Call me ugly all you want— but don't disrespect me by calling me that other nasty term! I studied too hard & chased too many storms to be called that,
There you have it. Don't mess with female meteorologists. (Or women at all, jerk).
One of the most highly-publicized cases of a female meteorologist having to defend herself against viewer vitriol in recent years actually ended badly for the meteorologist.
A couple of years ago, Louisiana meteorologist Rhonda Lee defended herself against ugly comments a viewer made about Lee wearing her natural hair on newscasts. She responded to the viewer with a biting yet gracious comment, and management fired her for not following the company's social media policy of ignoring criticism at all cost. Lee is now employed by WeatherNation.
[Screenshot via Ginger Zee's public Facebook page | This post was corrected to reflect that Zee said "In" in her response to Rice, not "I'm" as originally stated.]