

ESPN reporter Erin Andrews has been competing well so far on Dancing With The Stars. She is one of the final six "stars" remaining on the ballroom dancing competition, at least until another is eliminated Tuesday night during the ABC show.

Tuesday morning, on another ABC show, The View, one of the hosts, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, took it upon herself to suggest that Andrews should reconsider her wardrobe choices. (Andrews is wearing pretty much what every other female dancer wears on the show, which is not a particularly large amount of clothing but which is enough to be shown on prime time network television.)

As has also been well-publicized, Andrews was the victim of a peeping-tom criminal, a man who peddled video he shot of Andrews through hotel room keyholes. The man, Michael Barrett, was sentenced to prison shortly before Andrews began her Dancing With The Stars competition and Andrews was emotional in speaking about the sentencing which she believed wasn't severe enough.

Hasselbeck's opinion here was that Barrett should have not bothered with hotel room peepholes and just waited to see DWTS. Hasselbeck also seemed to be suggesting that Andrews, because she was a victim of a man who committed a crime, should have altered her own behavior, maybe not dressed the same as all the other women competitors on the show.

Whether you believe Andrews is hurting her job credibility by appearing on the show (an argument that doesn't seem to be made for athletes like Chad Ochocinco and Evan Lysacek who are also still in the competition), it is patently unfair to think that Andrews needed to change her plans because she was the victim of a crime. It's a ballroom dance competition for goodness sakes. Gauze, sequins, short skirts, plunging necklines (boys and girls)? That's the deal. And the deal doesn't include an Erin Andrews exception because, well, you know, boys will be boys.

-- Diane Pucin

Photo: Erin Andrews, right, and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy perform on the celebrity dance competition series, "Dancing with the Stars." Credit: Associated Press