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Two Sex-Scandals: Focusing in on the Problem
Submitted by Cate Blouke on Sun, 2011-05-22 09:16
AP Photo/Chris Pizello via NY Daily News Given the increasing hullaballoo surrounding this week’s two sex-scandal stories (Strauss-Kahn and Schwarzenegger), this image of Schwarzenegger and soon-to-be ex-wife, Maria Shriver, strikes me as paradigmatic of how these scenarios seem to play out: focus in on brooding, somber (occasionally apologetic) male politician; blurry, out-of-focus female victim in the foreground. While the impetus behind these stories is supposedly exposing the men that “done them wrong,” it’s often the women who suffer most from the media backlash.Kate Zernike's New York Times article makes the point well, both the Schwarzenegger scandal and the Strauss-Kahn case “raise similar questions about imbalances of power” when it comes to sexual indiscretion and assault. With teams of high-powered attorneys and publicists at their disposal, both men have the means to launch vigorous counterattacks, circulating rumors and exposing the women’s lives to excrutiating public scrutiny.
Media stake-out of Mildred Baena's home - Jonathan Alcorn for The New York Times It’s unsurprising that women are hesitant to come forward regarding sexual assault when such a media circus is bound to ensue, and/or when it doesn’t seem to have much impact. As Michael Shaw’s post on BagNewsNotes points out, Schwarzenegger’s infidelity and aggressive sexuality are nothing new – the man won the gubernatorial race despite exposés regarding his mistreatment of women by both the LA Times and Premiere Magazine. The only real news this time is living, breathing, incontrovertible evidence. With known-philanderer (and consequent hypocrite) Newt Gingrich eying the White House, what become increasingly clear are the cultural denial and double-standards we hold regarding men in positions of power. Post Adapted/Cross-posted from BagNewsNotes, a site comitted to the social, cutural and political reading of news images. |
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Sex scandal?
If someone were violently mugged, would you call that a "financial scandal?" Would a child or woman who has been raped describe their experience as a "scandal," or a criminal assault? While the Schwarzenegger story certainly counts as a "scandal," I have trouble classifying DKS's alleged violent sexual assault as a sex scandal. It's an (alleged) crime. Having sex implies consensuality, and rape is defined by its nonconsensuality. "Scandal" connotes titillation and prurient interest, and one would hope that when faced with the true story of a violently victimized real woman--an immigrant, a working mother, a real and suffering person--the audience's reaction would not be one of titillation. The pairing of these two stories needs to be interrogated to ensure that the language we use to describe rape does not minimize it.