sex scandal
{{Short description|Type of public scandal involving sexual acts by well-known people}}
{{Globalize|article|USA|2name=the United States|date=May 2019}}
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File:Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 102.png over his sex scandal with Bathsheba the wife of Uriah the Hittite, saying "by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme" (2 Samuel 12:14).]]
A sex scandal is a public scandal involving allegations or information about possibly immoral sexual activities, often associated with the sexual affairs of film stars, politicians,{{Cite web |url=https://wpsa.research.pdx.edu/papers/docs/WPSA%202015%20Scandal%20Paper.pdf |title=Stand By Your Man: Political Sex Scandals in American Pop Culture |last=Dagnes |first=Alison |website=wpsa.research.pdx.udu |access-date=June 22, 2019}} famous athletes, or others in the public eye. Sex scandals receive attention if a prominent figure is involved, if there is a perception of hypocrisy, if a public figure's sexuality is non-normative, or if it involves non-consensual acts. A scandal may be based on reality, the product of false allegations, or a mixture of both. Whether the scandal is based in fact or not, it may lead to the celebrity disappearing from the public eye or to the resignation of prominent political figures.{{Cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/04/28/nine-members-of-congress-have-lost-their-job-over-sex-in-six-months |title=Nine members of Congress have lost their jobs over sex in six months |last=Phillips |first=Amber |date=April 28, 2018 |website=washingtonpost.com |access-date=June 22, 2019}}
Sex scandals involving politicians often become political scandals, particularly when there is an attempt at a cover-up or suspicions of illegality. Attempts at coverups include payoffs, threats, or, in extreme cases, murder.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}}
While some commentators see sex scandals as irrelevant to politics, particularly where "professional performance [does] not seem to be impaired", Gene Healy of the Cato Institute views them as not just "great fun", but a reminder that "we should think twice before we cede more power to these fools". An increase in the prevalence of morally questionable expressions of sexuality is sometimes referred to as a sexidemic.{{cite web|url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/psychology-yesterday/201306/americas-sexidemic|last=Samuel |first=Lawrence R. |date=June 3, 2013 |title=America's 'Sexidemic'|website=Psychology Today}}
Sex scandals, in relation to political and public figures, often lead to questions of one's own ethics and moral code. A politician who is caught in a sex scandal is more likely to resign than a public figure in the face of a sex scandal.
History
Scandals have been a part of history in major declarations, false truces, when political or celebrity figures need to pay someone off to protect their legacy and more.{{cite web |title=Scandals |url=https://www.history.com/tag/scandals |website=HISTORY |language=en}} Scandals can involve bribery, immoral action, shame, slander, misdoing, etc.{{Cite web |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/scandal |title= Meaning of scandal in English |website=dictionary.cambridge.org |access-date=June 22, 2019}} The Hamilton–Reynolds affair, which involved Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who had a one-year affair with Maria Reynolds during George Washington's presidency, is considered one of the first sex scandals in American political history.{{Cite web|title=The Sex Scandal That Ruined Alexander Hamilton's Chances of Becoming President|url=https://www.history.com/news/alexander-hamilton-maria-reynolds-pamphlet-affair|access-date=June 22, 2019|website=history.com}} Political sex scandals in the U.S. have included the first sex scandal of Alexander Hamilton to five major national political figures, Newt Gingrich, John Edwards, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.{{cite journal | doi=10.1080/00224545.2012.744292 | title=The Value of Outside Support for Male and Female Politicians Involved in a Political Sex Scandal | date=2013 | last1=Stewart | first1=Dennis D. | last2=Rose | first2=Roger P. | last3=Rosales | first3=Felixia M. | last4=Rudney | first4=Philip D. | last5=Lehner | first5=Tasha A. | last6=Miltich | first6=Gemma | last7=Snyder | first7=Cassie | last8=Sadecki | first8=Brianna | journal=The Journal of Social Psychology | volume=153 | issue=3 | pages=375–394 | pmid=23724705 }}
Infidelity
File:Gender Differences in Jealousy When Looking at Actual Infidelity.png
Sex scandals involve sexual affairs which usually, but not always, involve infidelity. Infidelity has many definitions, either based on experience or research done on people who have been involved in the act of disloyalty and trust. To some, infidelity "is a complex phenomenon with multiple reasons driving people to cheat on their partners".{{cite book |last1=Apostolou |first1=Menelaos |title=Why Greek-Cypriots cheat? The evolutionary origins of the Big-Five of infidelity |date=2019 |pages=71–83 |url=http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=5f28c503-4006-4354-9682-3dfafc2dfe86%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=2018-34839-001&db=psyh}} A 2018 article in The New York Times cited an American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy national survey, stating "that 15 percent of married women and 25 percent of married men have had extramarital affairs".{{cite web |last1=Brody |first1=Jane E. |title=When a Partner Cheats |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/well/marriage-cheating-infidelity.html |website=The New York Times |date=22 January 2018}}
Gender stereotypes in scandals
Sex scandals tend to include a bias when it comes to men and women who are caught and then need evidence to explain their situation. A 2015 study concluded that gender stereotypes were "refer(ed) to the meanings that individuals and societies ascribe to males and females".{{cite journal |last1=McLaughlin |first1=Bryan |last2=Davis |first2=Catasha |last3=Coppini |first3=David |last4=Kim |first4=Young Mie |last5=Knisely |first5=Sandra |last6=McLeod |first6=Douglas |title=When women attack: Sex scandals, gender stereotypes, and candidate evaluations |journal=Politics and the Life Sciences |date=2015 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=44–56 |issn=0730-9384|jstor=26372745 |doi=10.1017/pls.2015.1 |pmid=26399945 |doi-access=free }} According to Juliet Williams at the University of California, Los Angeles the 1998 Clinton–Lewinsky scandal in the United States made the US Congress, media, and citizens look at male candidates and politicians in a different light by "normalizing public discussion of sex acts."{{Cite web|last=Williams|first=Juliet|title=20 years since America's shock over Clinton-Lewinsky affair, public discussions on sexual harassment are changing|url=http://theconversation.com/20-years-since-americas-shock-over-clinton-lewinsky-affair-public-discussions-on-sexual-harassment-are-changing-89749|access-date=2020-10-27|website=The Conversation|date=January 19, 2018 |language=en}} John Edwards, David Petraeus, Anthony Weiner, Arnold Schwarzenegger, are other examples of men involved in sex scandals that have caused the public not to give men the benefit of the doubt. This has caused the debate between politics and sex scandals to be seen in a different light. It has allowed gender-shifting and the role of gender to become more unbiased in the selection of candidates during their evaluation and allows more power for women fighting against stereotypes due to scandals, and men being seen as more skeptical.
A year after the 2017 Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases was first reported, leading to the viral spread of the #MeToo movement, New York Times published a list of 201 names of prominent men in the United States who had lost their jobs following public allegations of sexual harassment.{{Cite news|last1=Carlsen|first1=Audrey|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/23/us/metoo-replacements.html |title=#MeToo Brought Down 201 Powerful Men. Nearly Half of Their Replacements Are Women.|date=2018-10-23|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-03-11|last2=Salam|first2=Maya|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|last3=Miller|first3=Claire Cain|last4=Lu|first4=Denise|last5=Ngu|first5=Ash|last6=Patel|first6=Jugal K.|last7=Wichter|first7=Zach}}
Social attitudes have traditionally been less forgiving when minors are involved. In France, for example, the scandal surrounding Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier and former call girl Zahia Dehar – for whom Bouvier allegedly acted as a pimp in the late 2000s, paying her to appear at dinners for entertainment when she was 17 years old – has caused outrage and opened a debate about powerful men in society abusing their power.{{Cite web|title=Affaire Zahia: l'homme condamné pour proxénétisme veut faire rouvrir l'enquête|url=https://www.bfmtv.com/police-justice/affaire-zahia-l-homme-condamne-pour-proxenetisme-veut-faire-rouvrir-l-enquete_AN-202002240010.html|access-date=2020-10-27|website=BFMTV|language=fr}}{{Cite web|title=La justice, Yves Bouvier et l'ex-call-girl Zahia Dehar – 13 janvier 2017 – lejournaldesarts.fr|url=https://www.lejournaldesarts.fr/la-justice-yves-bouvier-et-lex-call-girl-zahia-dehar-131276|access-date=2020-10-27|website=Le Journal des Arts|language=fr}} The fall from grace and imprisonment of Anthony Weiner, following his sexting of explicit pictures to a 15-year-old girl, is another notable example of the pre-#MeToo era.{{Cite web|title=Anthony Weiner sentenced to nearly two years in prison for sexting scandal|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/anthony-weiner-sentenced-nearly-two-years-prison-sexting-scandal-n803906|access-date=2020-10-27|website=NBC News|date=September 25, 2017 |language=en}}
See also
References
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External links
- [http://www.slate.com/id/2294965/ Beaucoup B.S.] - Christopher Hitchens
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