{"id":195972,"date":"2023-11-15T20:24:07","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T20:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/?p=195972"},"modified":"2023-11-15T20:24:07","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T20:24:07","slug":"sam-fraser-hits-back-at-weather-girl-stereotype","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/world-news\/sam-fraser-hits-back-at-weather-girl-stereotype\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Fraser hits back at 'weather girl' stereotype"},"content":{"rendered":"
Some weather presenters landed their jobs for simply being ‘deemed attractive enough to be on TV’ despite having no experience in meteorology or journalism, BBC\u00a0weather’s Sara Thornton claimed.<\/p>\n
The degrading ‘weather girl’ stereotype has come under fire this week after Sam\u00a0Fraser,\u00a0who has worked as a stand-in presenter for BBC South Today since 2012, revealed her shock at how ‘fetishised’ the job had become online.<\/span><\/p>\n The presenter said the ‘dangerous stereotype’, fueled by years of misogyny and sexism, had created ‘a culture of permission to demean, humiliate and objectify’, noting how her bottom was even given its own fan club when she started the job.<\/p>\n While most weather presenters land their roles on prime television because of their experience in meteorology or presenting, it has been claimed that looks played a larger bigger role than their skill when some individuals were hired for the difficult job.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Ms Thornton told Business Insider last year: ‘<\/span>Normally, they’ve been a journalist or a meteorologist, but sometimes, you get people who are neither. They were just deemed attractive enough to be on TV.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Last year Sara Thornton – a fellow BBC weather presenter – spoke of the trials of being a female weather presenter\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sam Fraser\u00a0has worked as a stand-in presenter for BBC South Today since 2012<\/p>\n ‘But it’s an incredibly difficult job. We have to take an extremely complicated field of science and explain it in a way in which the layperson at home will understand and make it relevant to them.’<\/p>\n The weather presenter, who started her training with ITV in 2002, spoke of the obstacles she has continued to face over her career, pointing out that her qualifications were often ‘questioned’ more than that of her male counterparts.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ms Thornton even claimed that one of her female superiors had told her to not take on the job, adding that ‘it’ll be the biggest mistake you ever make’.\u00a0<\/p>\n The presenter, who now works at the BBC, said that female weather presenter’s looks are always commented on – and not just on social media. She said that people would come up in the street candidly speaking about her weight or height.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘That doesn’t happen to men,’ the presenter added as she remarked that people would think she was pregnant if you ‘put the tiniest bit of weight on’.<\/p>\n The comments reflecting the sexism within the field have resurfaced after Ms Fraser revealed she was investigating the fields stereotypes for a in new Radio 4 documentary, Scorchio! The Story of the Weather Girl.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘I had no idea that, within a fortnight of my first appearance, my bottom would have an online fan club and I’d feature on a social media channel entitled Babes of Britain,’ she told Radio Times.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘At first, I’ll admit, I was flattered\u2026but a little dive into the discussions about me \u2013 my chubby arms, muscular calves and other anatomical observations \u2013 soon put paid to that.’\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ms Fraser, who started her training with ITV in 2002, spoke of the obstacles she has continued to face over her career, pointing out that her qualifications were often ‘questioned’ more than that of her male counterparts<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sam Fraser said she was initially flattered by comments about her appearance but they quickly became tiresome<\/p>\n ‘It took me to parts of the internet I hadn’t known existed. It opened my eyes to a world of casual sexism and misogyny that is the continuing legacy of the term,’ she said.<\/p>\n ‘The ”weather girl” as an object of desire is a tenacious and dangerous stereotype. As long as the term is in use, it contributes to a culture of permission to demean, humiliate and objectify.’<\/p>\n Ms Fraser said weather presenters were much more than mere ‘dolly filler’, with many being qualified meteorologists who had worked with the likes of the\u00a0Met Office, the RAF and Nasa.<\/span><\/p>\n ‘At its heart, the role is one about communication. The best meteorologist won’t automatically be the best communicator,’ she said.<\/p>\n ‘Presenting the weather is about telling a good story.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘Most viewers aren’t aware that we ad-lib without Autocue, while also taking direction in our earpiece, ready to fill an extra thirty seconds. It’s a job which requires high-level brain functioning.’\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Her new radio documentary will explore the treatment of weather presenters in the press, including\u00a0Sarah Keith-Lucas, Laura Tobin and Carol Kirkwood.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nREAD ALSO: ‘I’m a female weather presenter, not a sex object!’ BBC forecaster slams how women are treated in the profession after pictures of her body were posted to an online fan club<\/h3>\n