What Sanford, Ensign, and Spitzer Have in Common

There is one thing Governor Sanford, Senator Ensign and former Governor Spitzer have in common beside a propensity toward moral indiscretion, and that is they are all middle-aged men. When we look back at some of the most flagrant sexual scandals of political officials, we cannot help but see that it is middle-aged married men who are the transgressors. Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, Larry Craig, Gary Hart -- the list is endless. For these men, one has to wonder, if they can so easily betray their families, how easily will they betray the public? The question that comes to mind for me is: where are the women on this list?

You might counter that this absence is due to the fact that there simply aren't as many women elected officials. It is hard to imagine though that of the 6 women Governors and 17 women Senators presently in office, not to mention the fact that women comprise 25 percent of all elected officials nationwide, that the fewer number of women elected officials accounts for this discrepancy. Women in our society, who still bear a disproportionate role in terms of child care, elder care and other family responsibilities, have these added duties that they must always consider. They also have not been in power that long. It is hard to conceive of Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi or Sarah Palin holding a news conference to say they had been conducting an affair, disappeared to another country to call off an affair or visited a male prostitute. I am not of course saying that all middle-aged male political officials are having affairs, but statistically we must ask why we are seeing an unequal number of cases among men and women. Is it because men who have been in power for so long are acting more boldly and feel they are above the rest of society?

Biological determinists would argue it is due to genetic factors about male sexuality. Others would argue that it is the very potent lure of power that distorts one's moral compass. Yet, others may argue that this is what we see in society anyway and these men are no different from others conducting themselves in similar fashion. Whatever the answer, I hope that one of the outcomes that emerges from the constant string of male politicians embroiled in sexual scandals is that we will escape the stranglehold that men in this country still have on positions of leadership.

Yes women have made great strides in running for office and winning, but they still lag behind men in positions of political power. Women comprise 52 percent of the population yet only hold 25 percent of elected office in the US. Furthermore, women are voting in much greater numbers than men in presidential elections (9 million more women than men voted in the last 2 elections).

When we start to overcome the hurdles that prevent many women from running (the fund raising disadvantage women have as they don't always have the same network of donors as men, the unique child care demands that may prevent them from running for office, the fear of negative personal attacks on themselves and their families), we will finally start to see more women in office. And only then may we finally see less of the sleazy, moralizing hypocrisy of some of these men who on the one hand hold up their superior morality, and on the other hand think they are above the law and canon of familial ethics.

Follow Julie Menin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/www.twitter/Jul

Comments

[blindhog]

President Obama, if you succumb to the temptations of power by getting involved with someone other than your wife----#1, that would be totally stupid, #2, you would be subject to extortion, #3 come clean to your wife and the American people--in other words get down on your hands and knees and tell everyone how supid you were and that it won't happen again.

Hear that Mark Sanford?.

[ffg]

The comments on this piece are really off base. Menin's point is not that women don't have affairs. It's that women, who have fought so hard to get into office ,aren't going to squander it by cheating.

[LondonTownNY]

With all due respect Julie, you take complicated subject matter and distill it down towards a very simplistic solution to push your own agenda. It's actually rather lame and not all that intellectual. Women have and continue to be involved in scandal and issues related to character and moral judgment even if is not always about sexuality. To push the idea that all of Society's ills would evaporate if middle aged men were cast aside in favor of women is laughable. Sorry, don't buy it.

[syllepsis]

I didn't know Blago was caught cheating on his wife, too.

I assume the author of this article would consider that a worse 'indiscretion' than trying to sell Obama's Senate seat.

[enhancedvibes]

I must admit I am disappointed in the comments about this op-ed. Conversation slipped into a discussion about morality when the discussion Ms. Menin is trying to raise here is that our ingrained beliefs about gender and marriage in the U.S. practically enables these men in power to cheat. I said to my co-worker last week that men in power can cheat because their wives are at home taking care of their children. They operate from a kind of "what me worry" position. Menin says "Women in our society, who still bear a disproportionate role in terms of child care, elder care and other family responsibilities, have these added duties that they must always consider. " It's like saying, women don't have the time to cheat because we have so many other responsibilities. It is because of this that men, in general, are able to cheat on their partners. This is not to say that women do not cheat, but this op-ed is about men in power so that is what I am addressing. If society taught us that men should take on more of these duties and equally participate in their home life, they wouldn't have time to even think about cheating, much less actually cheat.

(I hope Julie Menin reads these comments.)

[QuietLightTraveler]

Julie,

This seems to be a bit sexist. Women also have their ugly side. Give it enhough time, until there are more women in office and they have more power (God help us), and I predict we will see the same kind of transgressions by women.

[Jack Straw]

Just a bit sexist? Julie is obviously one of those women that feel the path to equality is being overtly sexist themselves. Plenty of women cheat in marriages, just because one of them hasn't been a prominent politician means nothing. Making a sexist point of my own, have you seen the women in politics? Palin (whose ugly thoughts exclude her from any personal "must do" list) and Michigan Gov Granholm are two of the few that are even within the realm of doable. Before you try and point out that the men aren't necessarily GQ material either, let me say that women don't sleep with them because they are attractive, they do it for the power where men often do cheat for the more "attractive" offer.

Which brings me to my last point. None of these men would have been able to cheat if not for the availability of another woman's Va gina. So before you cast aspersions as to mens morality, you must agree that no matter what moral judgment you wish to pass upona man, unless it was a ho mos exual relationship, there was a woman equally at fault and as morally responsible for the imbroglio.

Just sayin'

[Know-some-secrets]

This blog seems both dishonest and sexist. What about James McGreevey ? Is there any possiblity that the women you name might have committed adultery with a member of the same sex? Just wondering.

[lbicomber]

??? .... LOL!

Some serious issues with women here .....

[Know-some-secrets]

Exactly. Julle Menin said, "It is hard to conceive of Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi or Sarah Palin holding a news conference to say they had been conducting an affair, disappeared to another country to call off an affair or visited a male prostitute. " That's not the whole list of how prominent politicians have recently committed adultery, right?

[mychagal]

Sarah Palin may not be having an affair, but her moral superiority as well as Michelle Bachmann's is appalling. These two women are about the dumbest two women I have ever laid my eyes on.

[mychagal]

Julie,

Be careful! Sarah Palin may end up reading this artice and think that you are accusing her of having an affair, since she's not too bright. She might think you said she was having an affair with Newt Gingrich

[Jeff Kreisler - Huffpost Blogger]

They also all read a copy of the new book "Get Rich Cheating." Clearly.

http://GetRichCheating.com
"Just by reading this book you'll earn an asterisk next to your name. You'll be laughing all the way to the bank, assuming other cheaters haven't forced it into bankruptcy yet." - Rachel Maddow (MSNBC)
"Catcher in the Rye for evildoers" - Penthouse Magazine
"A very funny book with a very timely message." - Terry Jones (Monty Python)
"This is THE book to read in the unemployment line." - Lizz Winstead (Co-creator of The Daily Show)

[Know-some-secrets]

do you get royalties for ads?

[PatA]

I think it is more about the lies, than the sex......at least it is for me. You could ask anyone, male or female, which hurts the most when someone they love has an affair and invariably it is "the lies".

Which came first? The cheater or the liar?

[Know-some-secrets]

I agree that it is not the sex, but the lies. But, even the lies to a spouse are private. The issue is public lies, and particularly public lies commited for polticial purposes, that mislead and Betray the public trust. The classic examples are not the current ones, but the Clintons on 60 Mintues in 1993, Bill Clinton red faced and finger wagging in the face of the American people denying he "had sex with that women" depending on what is, is, and Hillary accusing the vast Rigth Wing Conspiracy of orchestraing the "false" charges of Monica Lewinsky.

[wreckdiver]

yawn ... Bill Clinton was not prancing on a moral high horse about the importance of marital fidelity and condemning other for the same. He was asked a question about his private life that the press, in years past, would never have dared to ask, and is irrelevant.

You're upset about lying? Since when? You're more than happy to overlook any one of Obama's l i e s about substantive, policy matters, but then again ...

.... his name isn't Clinton..

[newtorious]

You forget -- these men were having affairs with women. Your assumption that this is predominantly a middle aged men's problem says something about the way you're looking at this -- not the thing itself. If it were only a male problem then it would only be gay men who cheat on their partners, and as we know, that's hardly the case.


The larger question, to my mind, is why intelligent people, such as yourself, see these Ensign/Sta­nford/Spit­zer/Clinto­n things and think the men involved are the only ones that matter. It's some kind of weird starry-eyed sexism I can't quite put my finger on. It's as if they're somehow more significant than the rest of us. Boy are they ever not. They're as boringly predictably self-centered and self-indulgent as any redneck skirt chaser who doesn't get his name in the news for being a self-centered self indulgent jerk like our current crop of skirt-chasing self-centered self indulgent jerks are.


The "other woman" women in these charming little forays in self-indulgence and self-love are every bit as disgustingly selfish and narcissistic as the men are. We need to have equal opportunity outrage even if one of the adulterers isn't a politician -- or a male.

[bcdrake]

Yes, but the other woman has not been a nationally elected figure. There is a difference.
No affairs for Hillary, Nancy Pelosi et al.

[Know-some-secrets]

what?

[Henry]

"middle-aged married men who are the transgressors."

Anyone who has watched the evolution of politics knows that there is a usage of the word political as in political animal. It is hard for me to imagine moral women as opposed to immoral men in the subset of political animal. What do you think about the issue of Catholic Priests abusing children? An issue of power and position maybe?

[Know-some-secrets]

Anyone , anyone who points to the most powerful women in recent American history -- Pelosi, Rice, Clinton -- as more moral and more competent than their male counterparts is not being truthful. They prove that both lack of integrity and incompetence are not limted to one party or one gender.

[wreckdiver]

"Not being truthful"? First of all, lumping the three together is so transparent it's beyong pathetic. Secondly, it's a matter of opinion. YOU, who so vigorously defend your right to make baseless, delusional accusations by calling them your "opinions", think that anyone who disagrees with your opinion of Pelosi, Rice and Clinton is "not being truthful"?

LOL!

Then again, .... it is an article about hypocrisy.

[larry278]

Ensign & Sanford may be counselled by a mysterious group called the Fellowship on C St which ministers to conservatives. Spitzer, Edwards & Bill Clinton may have had access to another group & may have used that group's guidance. We will be seeing blogs & articles about the Fellowship on C St. This group is said to engage in questionable activites. The blogs will explain why some say that the group engages in questionable activities. This Fellowship likes to keep a low profile & tries to work very quietly.

[cleareyes]

I am all for more women in positions of power whether in companies or in politics. But the argument that lax morality is the preserve of men alone is a little dubious. That would be like concluding the exact opposite from the statistics on teen pregnancies. Also, for every cheating man there is either a cheating woman or some woman with less than stellar scruples to dally with a married man. So let's leave morality out of this equation.

[Know-some-secrets]

American history has many examples that once in power, minorites a subject to the same power abuses as the majority. So, is dishonesty equitably distributed in society?

[Jack Straw]

Bingo