Women In the Lockeroom -- Are We Having This Conversation Again?

Inés Sainz returns to work this week, but has announced that she will steer clear of locker rooms to conduct player interviews.

While her decision is garnering some attention, the move is unlikely to create any sort of ripple effect for women throughout the sports media sphere. Female journalists have continued to do our jobs ever since a few players cat-called the TV Azteca reporter in the New York Jets’ locker room last month.

Her absence in locker rooms and presence on the sidelines won’t change that.

The Sainz saga made for splashy tabloid headlines and spirited talk show sound bites, and her return will no doubt generate another round of debate.

Does she dress too suggestively? I’m not the fashion police.

Is there a cultural disconnect? You don’t have to be fluent in Spanish to realize you see a lot more skin on “República Deportiva” than you do on “SportsCenter.”

Should women be allowed in the locker room? Are we really having this conversation again?

The truth is, the Inés Sainz story has been blown wildly out of proportion. The woman at the center of this controversy has said as much herself. But asinine comments from folks like Clinton Portis aside – he suggested that Sainz and other female reporters can’t help but be attracted to some of the athletes they cover – I do believe some good has come from this situation.

Maria Burns Ortiz is a freelance sports journalist and chair of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists' Sports Task Force. To continue reading her column on Fox News Latino, click here.