Erin Andrews faces the hatelust of the internet

Erin Andrews is a sports reporter at ESPN. She is also an attractive woman. Good for her, right? Making it in a male-dominated profession.

But, rather predictably, her sex and her appearance have inspired the legions of losers on the internet to stalk, threaten and abuse her. She has even received death threats via e-mail.

Perhaps the worst attack she has endured was having a stalker actually shoot secret video of her nude in her hotel room. The so called "peephole video" became such a viral success that it has since become a popular lure for malware sites.

Is this fan love, or fan hate? Frighteningly, for all female journalists, it's a dangerous mix of both.

Check out this "fan" video, posted just this week:


(Skip to 2:10)


The "kid" (who does not sound like one) yells at her from the stands at the NCAA College World Series, demanding an autograph. When she says "no" rather sternly, he yells "I’m gonna watch your video tomorrow!"

This is what these "sexy" celebrity pictures and videos are really all about: power. By bringing up the video, he is threatening to rape her privacy. Out of anger.

Am I reading too much into this?

Here are some comments from the YouTube page:

"lol whoever shouted about the video is a champ. If she's gonna get offended by stuff like that then she shouldn't be such a bitch in the first place."
- jediknight328

What a big bitch. She's not doing jack shit and she can't sign a fucken ball. I would have been like I'm gonna watch your video tomorrow and J/O to it even though I disagree with what the guy did. She's not even that hot. Looks like a fucken witch
- GrammatonCleric24

"lol, what a whore."
- plzenjoymybigolpenis

Granted, YouTube comment threads are the sewer of social media, but they are also a peek into the dark side. You could call it sexual sour grapes—the unattainable woman is a bitch and a whore who is "not even that hot,"  and she deserves to be pseudo-raped.

This is not appreciating a beautiful woman. This is sexualized hate. And it is something to think about next time you check out that celebrity nip slip, upskirt, or sexting link you see online. Are you aroused by the idea of seeing beautiful people naked, or is it the opportunity to participate in humiliating a person more popular or famous than you that really turns your crank?

In Erin's own words, "Man up!"