Canadian Journalist Says She's 'Floored' By Support After Being Criticized For Her On-Air Outfit

Canadian journalist Tess van Straaten has responded to the support she got after receiving criticism from a viewer about a sleeveless dress she wore on air.

Van Straaten, a TV newscaster for CHEK News⁩ in B.C., shared on Twitter on January 1, 2023, that a complaint about what she was wearing was emailed to the news organization following a New Year's Eve broadcast.

In the email, a viewer said that it was "inappropriate" for her to "wear sleeveless tops in the wintertime to report on the weather."

"In my opinion, she should be wearing a suit jacket and look more professional like other newscasters around the world," the person continued. "Sorry for the negative comment but it is almost upsetting to see what she is wearing."

Van Straaten posted a screenshot of the email and one of herself in the sleeveless dress during a weather update during the broadcast.

"This is what women in broadcasting sadly still face in 2023... Do you think my dress is 'almost upsetting'?"

Then, on January 3, 2023, the journalist tweeted about the support she had received over the last few days and posted an opinion piece about what happened.

"I'm so floored by the response to my tweet calling out a [sexist] email from ⁦@CHEK_News⁩ viewer and humbled by all the support," van Straaten said on Twitter.

"I hope that by talking about this, people will finally stop telling women how to look and dress. That's why I tweeted."

In her opinion piece published on the CHEK News site, van Straaten said, "When I walked into the CHEK News studio on New Year's Eve in a tailored business dress to do the 5 p.m. weather forecast, I had no idea what I was wearing would offend anyone."

She revealed that negative comments directed toward women about their clothes, hair, shoes and bodies are often sent to the newsroom email that all employees get.

"It's disheartening these messages critical of how we look are almost always from other women," van Straaten said.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around what 'almost upsetting' means," she noted. "How can a dress be almost upsetting? And why do I need to dress like a man to look professional? A suit jacket is satisfactory but business dresses and blouses aren’t?"

"It's 2023. Surely we can stop telling women how they should look or dress?"

After receiving the complaint and posting about it on Twitter, van Straaten told Narcity that she had received another complaint about her bare arms in 2022 when she reported during a heatwave.

"Unfortunately, it's all too common for women in broadcasting and the public eye to get emails about how they look — whether it's a negative comment [over] their clothes, their hair or even their weight — and male colleagues almost never get messages like this," she said.

Van Straaten shared that she used to ignore criticisms like this but started to call them out a few years ago.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.