Why Women Keep Their Pants On
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is the last data point I need on my mental graph of 1)men, 2)women, 3)keeping it in their pants, and 4)keeping our pants on. I'm ready to claim moral superiority, or at least the high ground on smarts. Women are either less willing to cheat on their spouse, abuse young interns and cross the double-yellow line of sexual indiscretion, or we're much better at hiding it.
Look at the modern-history laundry list: former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, Bill Clinton, Congressmen Henry Hyde, Bob Livingston, David Vitter, Mark Foley, Bill Thomas, Bob Barr, Senators Gary Hart and Larry Craig. Must I go on? Shall we go further back in history? If we made this into a parlor game for coming up with politicians' sexual sleaziness, crimes and misdemeanors it could go on all night, and which women would be on the list? If you said, Congresswomen Helen Chenoweth (deceased) and Sue Myrick had adulterous affairs, you'd win the prize.
Granted, the Congress and state houses are predominantly male. Even so, the percentage of women who have ruined their political reputation for the sake of bodily delights is pretty small compared to men. So what's going on?
Well, Gloria Steinem has said, "Women are not more moral than men. We are only uncorrupted by power." Perhaps, or at least we don't equate power with sexual liaisons. The psychology professor Alice Eagly found that women were more likely than men to support morally traditional policies. A 1999 study of men and women in the U.S. Coast Guard found a statistically significant difference showing women's greater moral judgment. Then again, as Carol Gilligan would point out, "women impose a distinctive construction on moral problems." Well, for sure, and the bottom line is we don't have a good answer on whether women are more moral than men -- especially when it comes to indiscriminate sex acts.
Without hard evidence, I'm going to wade out of the morality question, and weigh in on the side of women being not only smarter, but clearer about our priorities. It's taken us a long time to get the small amount of political power that we have. We're not going to be so frivolous, careless of the public trust or stupid enough to blow our opportunity for a chance encounter of the sexual kind. We'll leave that to Spitzer and his ilk.
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
He cheated on his wife, got it? And he added to his and his family's problems by breaking the law.
I will not be sold the story that his wife didn't know that he cheats..women are usually very intuitive when it comes to the husband"s "running around" on her.
I agree with everyone about the tired old scene of him at the podium, she is slightly behind him to his right, he's saying how sorry he is, she is nodding and the beat goes on.
HOW CAN THESE WOMEN DO IT? I threw a set of keys at my cheating "better half" and split his forehead open and then left. It has to be xanax or a stiff shot of vodka that enables those women to stand there and look at him......I would be so out of there and all of the locks would be changed when he dragged his sorry *** home after his "press conference".
Schoolteachers are predominantly female. I wonder if Robin's list includes Debra Lafave, Rachel Holt, Shannon Hrozek, Natasha Sizow, Carrie McCandless, or Robert Godfrey?
Well, if women want to claim a hormonal superiority, that's okay with me (though that would sound appropriately silly), but if it's moral superiority they want then let's equal up the biological imperative. Women attract and select; men are attracted and selected. Women seek the correct mating partner; men seek the available mating partner. So let's give the women testosterone therapy and make them more aggressive in their mating behavior. Let's wake up that subtle psychological response to men in codpieces (do most women even think about why they paint their lips?).
The problem with retro-fitting morality onto biology: biology ROFLIAO. Me too.
No, it's not that women are more moral. It's simply that their violations of power tend to not be of the sexual variety. For men, power is asoociated with being offered to have sex. For women, it's other things.
HUIMANS ARE A VIRUS. YOU CAN'T TRUST A VIRUS.
This just demonstrates that men and women are different, but more importantly it's about time prostitution was legalized. It's the oldest profession in the world and will remain so. Our puritanical attitudes are too absurd.
IMO, morality and sexuality are two completely different things.
Give me a break. Women cheat as much as men, and have for decades, if not longer. What a crock. I have witnessed plenty of this in the workforce myself, and have read reports which argue the same.
BUT, as was pointed out, there are only a very small number of women who have been caught cheating on their husbands while politicians. This means that women are either better at hiding it, or perform the acts less often, which was part of the point of the post.
Much smaller number of women politicians than males. Not saying women are or aren't "more moral" than men -- but you can't base any assumptions on less incidences, when men outnumber women in politics by a large ratio.
As a single guy I can assure you that there are many married women cheating. I have had plenty of offers from my friends wives. They are just sneakier about it.
Oh, please.
Elliot Spitzer, Governor of NY is a person that had taken the oath to uphold the law. He is also a celebrity of sorts in that his name is known to all media outlets. When being caught in a sting by the FBI conducting an investigation in the prostitution ring in Washington he magically appeared.
Now if it were you or I caught in this sting it wouldn't even be newsworthy and nothing would happen. But with the criteria set forth above he is now a prime candidate to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law of New York and Washington. Federal charges that will not go away.
His best deal would be to step down as Governor and attempt a deal with the Federal authorities. Otherwise he has become ineffective as a Governor and leader in one of the greatest States in the Union.
Apologizing is not enough. Not to the population or his family. It is time to get out fast when his reputation is tarnished beyond anyones imagination.
The oldest profession "Prostitution" is no longer old. It is prevalent in our society. But do not be so naive as to think as a Governor you can get away with it. No Way.. No How.
ahem...it still takes 2 to tango...these men arent in trouble for getting caught wanking to magazines..they are getting caught having "relations" with WOMEN other then thier wives..and whats sicker is their wives are standing behind them in support...like they have a mental illness or something..why are they supporting their cheating husbands? same reason women marry NBA stars...its all unacceptable to me. women and men
thanks for being frank, tanya
i was saying to my male friend ( im a guy ) why is she standing with him?
No, what they got him on was not that he had sex with a woman other than his wife, but that he was employing the use of a prostitute (which is illegal) and transporting the prostitute over state lines (which is also illegal). And as far as the woman, while I don't personally know any prostitutes, I do know women who sell their bodies in some form for money. The money is there, it can be quite large, and it's also something that women have sold forever, and men have bought forever.
Basically what I'm saying is that the sex itself is unimportant, should not be illegal, is not even immoral, and were it not against the law (however outmoded that law may or may not be!) there would be no story here.
takes two to tango?
hi and bye gerber!
Hoggamus higgamus,
Men are polygamous,
Higgamus hoggamus,
Women monogamous.--Dorothy Parker.
Wrong. It was William James.
Have you got a citation to back that up? Because young Professor Google now tells me that the little verse has been "variously attributed" to Miss Parker, Mr. James, and even Ogden Nash. I had only ever seen D. Parker attributions, and it sounds a hell of a lot more like her writing that that of William James. But if you've got the book and chapter to show where William James was responsible, I'm sure we'd all like to see it.
Sure, women in a position of power may be more apt to keep their pants on, but what about women presented with the opportunity to shag a man in a position of power? How many of those have we been witness to through the ages? To imply that women are more moral is complete BS. They simply have different motivations for screwing around.
Just look at the lineup of babes at Faux and CNN??? What do you think they would be willing to do to keep the job and the makeup artists that go with it??
Hypothetically asking - is a woman having an affair with a married man more moral than the married man? I think both are equally accountable.
Carrying one step further, do you admire or distrust a woman who stays with a man who betrays? Sometimes it takes more courage to leave.
No, the single woman having an affair with the married man isn't breaking a promise/vow to anyone - the married man is. The single woman isn't simultaneously screwing over a spouse and three daughters while she's screwing around with the man - the married man is. These are not moral/ethical equivalents.
Actually, that would depend on whether or not she is aware of the children and the wife involved. While she may not have taken a vow, she is complicit in assisting that individual to break that vow. Particularly, if she is aware of the consequences in getting caught, then, yes, she shares equal, but different, culpability. Because like it or not, she is thinking of herself before the wife and children whose lives will be inevitably destroyed. Regardless, they're both awful people. I would say the opposite is also true. For instance, if a wife cheated on a husband, and the male or female she cheated with was aware of the domestic circumstances, that person would be just as reprehensible as the wife.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
