Pearce, who is part of Channel 7’s Friday night prime time commentary team, said she had developed a “thick skin” to be at a point where she wasn’t offended that Rex Hunt and Dermott Brereton aired that they’d prefer to hear Wayne Carey behind the microphone.“Personally I’ve just wanted to sit there and not give it any oxygen whatsoever,’’ she told Gerard Whateley on SEN.“I get this sense almost of responsibility because other women and non-binary people who aspire to be in the industry or are already in the industry or just love footy and want to connect with footy that they’re disheartened and offended by it. Whilst I’m not, because I’ve done this for 20 years, either through trying to play footy or working in the media, having your credibility questioned because you’re a female isn’t a new thing that I’m just starting to deal with. I’m pretty thick skinned when it comes to that. “And my sheer passion for the game is a good anaesthetic for it as well. As the game goes on you realise it’s not just about you, it’s affecting other people to read and hear this again. “I’m reluctant that I know it just breathes oxygen into it again and even me talking about it with you will create another week of discussion.“I’ve heard it so many times before, that I am thick skinned, if I want to go looking for it I can hear comments like that every week. Every time I do Friday night footy, or work in the media, or if I don’t even go looking for it, I can find on Twitter @JoeBlow69 — I’ve got no clue because I’m a female and never played men’s footy.”Pearce added: “I guess this is a little bit different and unusual in my opinion because another member of the AFL media fraternity, both current in Derm and past in Rex, have gone out of their way to give an opinion on who their favourite is. That’s different. I don’t know if you’ve ever come across that, or whether it is a bit unusual for someone to be put up in a comparison, not from a member of the public, but almost a colleague of sorts given that Derm and I both work here. I’m not out there trying to be everyone’s favourite commentator and to be honest not all surprised that I’m not Dermott and Rex’s favourite commentator.”Pearce said she had “lived the off side of gender quotas for 25 years” and she’s proud to bring a different perspective. “I grew up not being able to play the game, not being able to see myself represented watching the game. They’ve always been there, it’s just which ones you care to pay attention to or not.“When I read their comments and have heard the spin offs from it, what I hear at the crux of it is that they feel seen and heard when they watch Wayne Carey. “That’s understandable, they played in similar eras, they probably idolised the way each other play, they might have similar values and past life experience and therefore ways of seeing the game. I’m not surprised or offended by that in one bit. “That is one way with which to look at the game, and there are many is what I’ll say. So I’d say that whilst it might be ruining football for Rex there might be people out there that can connect and engage with football better now that there is greater diversity in the broadcast team. Whether it be gender, race, background, whatever it is.”She said in the past the talk might have made her feel insecure but she remains confident in her ability.“I am in a place now where I can genuinely laugh and see it for what it is — that people don’t always respond well to change,’’ she said. “And that whilst some people enjoy the comfort of being able to sit and see themselves and not be challenged by what they’re seeing and watching, I can see it for that. That’s the shift that’s happened and what I represent amongst others. I’m not offended by it. What is hard … it’s just two weeks of discussion, it kind of drains you of a bit of energy. Imagine how much more preparation I could have done for this weekend if I hadn’t have been emotionally dealing with this drip by drip. That’s the thing that’s makes it not so enjoyable. “It doesn’t affect me in terms of my enjoyment of the job. I look forward to turning up on Friday night and getting to watch a great game of footy and being a very minute part of it in trying to bring it to life through the commentary. That’s the enjoyment for me. I’m not trying to be the most popular or anyone’s favourite. I don’t feel like any one person is the gatekeeper of credibility in the industry.”She added: “The dynamic is shifting definitely, when people with a profile and platform say what they do it does gather the troops. “What I would say, I’m very reassured by the growing positivity and reinforcement that I and all females and other people get through working in footy. Maybe four years ago before I had a strong network within the industry it may have (hurt my enjoyment), because I wouldn’t have had that reassurance that I am on the right track and that might have been the only opinion I was hearing. Now that I have been working in the industry for a bit and I have a good network throughout a lot of the clubs — to hear modern day coaches and footy people saying you’re on the right track, that restores or maintains your confidence that you’re doing a good job.”Brereton revealed on Wednesday that he had contacted Pearce to clarify his comments.“I won’t tell you what she said to me, but she was very polite and calm about it. She’s a high-quality person with very good principals,’’ he said.
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