What makes men like Anthony Weiner do the things they do?
Let me say this right off… this is not a political post. Not technically. I am a liberal, who believes in liberal values, but what I am about to ponder clearly applies to all parties – and celebrities too. And sports stars. Pretty much all men in a position of power who have become unhinged with reality.
Why do they think we want to see their wang?
And why is it always only men?
Well, women would show off other parts of their anatomy, but you get the idea.
There are powerful women out there who do stupid things. Drugs. Affairs. Lies. Theft. But I cannot think of ONE off the top of my head who got into a position of power and then started shoving her breasts all over the internet.
Women do that to GET to the top. Not from the top.
I’m no psychologist, but I do have a psychology minor from college, which makes me qualified to write about such things. Actually, it means I know jack shit. I am just wondering. WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES MEN DO THIS?
Think about it. They go into politics, some of them even with good intentions at heart. They achieve a certain amount of success and they move to Crazyland? They think they are untouchable? They think just because 5, 10, 100 other politicians, actors, singers, basketball players got caught doing the exact same thing, THEY WON’T?
AND WHY AREN’T THEY MORE CAREFUL ABOUT IT? That’s a psychology research study all on it’s own.
And again, back to the women. Madonna showed us her breasts, but she never lied about it. She was all, HERE ARE MY BREASTS, PEOPLE! TAKE EM OR LEAVE EM!
Did none of these people learn from Clinton and Bush?
Directions for next political scandal:
1. Get caught (because you will). – CLINTON
2. Get hounded about it (because you will). – CLINTON
3. Do NOT, under any circumstances, lie about it. – CLINTON
4. Tell people it’s “private business” and they will miraculously leave you alone. – BUSH
And yes – I know the minute I hit post, someone will come up with ONE, SINGULAR story of a woman politician sexually harassing her staff. But the numbers are staggering in the dude column, yos. I never heard about Oprah or Queen Elizabeth or Condoleeza Rice making anyone do anything inappropriate. Except for reading some of those books, OPRAH.
So, it comes back to the chicken and the egg.
Does power create these douchebags?
Or attract them?
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Well, I suppose you could blame it on testosterone, which makes one more likely to take risks. But I also think that men view their genitalia as being THEM in a way that women don’t, maybe just because of the way we are constructed. I have heard many women feel a loss of womanhood when they get a hysterectomy, but that more seems tied to potenial motherhood than sex.
But a man’s penis is, to some extent, HIM, his power, his “manhood.” So to show it off is a sign of being powerful, intimidating.
Women, on the other hand, most often think “Oh, keep it in your pants, buddy.”
I am thoroughly convinced this is not a male/female issue, especially noting that European women politicians (or wives of politicians) have gotten themselves into trouble.
I believe it is a power issue – an egotistical issue – it takes a certain kind of person to be in a position of power – whether it be political or social (i.e. sports, music, film) – and that kind of person is usually rather narcisstic, feeling untouchable from any negative press. Women may show it differently with “take no prisoners” attitudes (i.e. Sarah Palin’s apparent abuse of power in Alaska), but it’s still there. Cynical me thinks in this day and age of the internet, a huge scandal involving an American woman in power is just around the corner.
Greebs,
It is not Douchebaggery. It is stupidity. All of these men, Favre, Weiner, DGM, Edwards all are just idiots. It is like playing peek a boo with a child. A child thinks that if they can’t see you, then you can’t see them. These men are the same way. If no one saw me do it…I didn’t do it.
15 years ago these same men were playing grab-ass/harrassing flight attnedants. Now they can do the same thing with a cell phone camera.
The Ego is a powerfull thing. Having your Ego stroked is a turn on to men.
Rachel, yeah, I definitely think it’s all about the power. And kind of related to what Suebob was saying thought – I wonder if, in general, women’s sexual power is different. As much as I hate those gender stereotypes.
And Bill, ha. But I think douchebagery needs stupidity as a necessary component.
And i also wanted to make sure people know I certainly don’t think all men are capable of this, it just really is fascinating to me how this seems to happen more with men, with a certain professional life, and as Bill said – a certain amount of constant ego stroking.
Oops, William – thought that was Bill from Poop & Boogies 🙂
Aimee… not sure I follow all that but I do think men in power are more prone to falling off the horse, or however you want to say it. It’s rather disgusting.
To some extent there are going to be more powerful men who are dicks (pun very much intended) than women who engage in insane behavior just because there are more powerful men than powerful women. Still, I don’t see Hillary pulling the shit that Bill pulled. I also doubt that there is a big audience of men who would welcome sexting a female politician, while there are apparently some number of women who find this entertaining/interesting/important.
On the other hand, Paris Hilton’s sex tape and Lindsey Lohan’s shoplifting and other stunts are pretty idiotic too.
In general, I think there may be a sense of entitlement and super-ego that exist with the elite class.
My husband’s take on this is that Weiner was threatened by his wife’s superstar status and that he was reaching out to women who would adore him without competing in his arena. To his credit, my husband assured me that this is not an issue in our marriage, and based upon that assurance he may live to see another day.
Both maybe? I do think that they really believe they are all powerful and won’t get caught. They think, oh well it won’t happen to me. I think it’s an ego thing.
They have a dickhead gene.
I wish I knew! It kills me.- m
Maybe women are better about not getting caught. I don’t know. The last few years we seem to read a lot of stories about female teachers sleeping with students.
Just craziness all around.
Why would any guy want to show a woman his junk in a picture? I mean you open it up to be scrutinized, photoshoped, digitally castrated, heck maybe even measured!
Plus, when you tweet it what you’re really saying is that your junk will fit inside of 140 characters. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no porn star but I’m at least 141 characters. #justsaying
Talk of the nation did a segment on this the other day. Not sure if this is the right one but it’s interesting none-the-less.
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/08/137061504/-to-avoid-scandal-clean-closets-before-you-run
I agree it’s a power thing. I think it’s akin to the gorilla beating it’s chest. We haven’t outgrown our primal selves yet, in some areas.
The Ego is a powerfull thing. Having your Ego stroked is a turn on to men.