One might think that in 2024, female TV presenters would not be judged over their on-air attire. But it appears that many people still harbour orthodox views about women’s clothing regardless of the advancements in society. On May 7, Australian TV presenter Narelda Jacobs shared a screenshot of an email her whole newsroom received. This mail was sent by a viewer under the guise of “feedback” when it was just a commentary on Jacob’s clothes. The mail, with the subject “Narelda Jacobs. News” had just one line: “Feedback: Inappropriate dress sense for reading the news. Cleavage is for the nightclubs.”
While sharing the screenshot of this mail, Jacobs also shared the photo of her on-screen attire that was hardly controversial. Jacobs, who hosts weekday news bulletins on Network Ten, mentioned that her whole newsroom got this mail while she was on air. The timestamp of the mail reads, 12.13 pm AEST. Jacobs hosts her show Midday at 12 pm Sydney time. The seasoned news anchor captioned the post, “Yes, we still receive emails like this. Yes, it went to the entire newsroom. Yes, I was on air at the time. Yes, it is intended to shame and humiliate me. No, what I’m wearing is not inappropriate but your email sure is.”
This post quickly got over 6,000 likes with many urging Jacobs to not be fazed by such comments. An Instagram user commented on it, “Some people are sad and small and spray their sad smallness around. Good thing the sound of their sad smallness is like a mozzie on helium and the sound of your radiance is the entire brass section of a whole goddamn orchestra.” Another person wrote, “If this wasn’t so ridiculous it would be funny. I can’t believe they took the time to actually write a complaint!!” Expressing a similar opinion, an individual stated, “How does someone get to the point of being bothered to write an email as such.”
Giaan Rooney, a former competitive swimmer from Australia who now works as a television personality, also remarked that she received similar comments as well. Rooney wrote, “Yep. The number of emails the newsroom used to get attacking everything about my appearance when I was presenting the weather was incredible…” Australian journalist Simone Amelia Jordan also extended her support to Jacobs and wrote, “You ALWAYS look fly. Sidenote: That jacket is on fire.”
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