Far East Cynic

Sexual Hypocrisy……..

It should be no surprise to any regular readers here, that when it comes to sex-I am very open minded and take a pretty liberal view point when it comes to the age old question of “How much is enough?” ( Answer: There is no such thing as ‘enough sex’). So it should come as no surprise that I have pretty ambivalent feelings about the supposed misdeeds of Representative Lee-who, it would appear, seems to have a thankless wife at home not performing her wifely duties, in near sufficient quantities it would seem. That’s hardly surprising since Congressmen are in the end also human beings-and subject to the same afflictions and peculiarly American hang-ups concerning sex. Unlike other great nations on the planet-America with its warped view of sexuality provides no useful alternatives, thus forcing men like the good Rep Lee to resort to eminently traceable means such as Craigslist-which proved to be his undoing.

Imagine if we actually faced up to the problem and took a more practical view of sex and sexuality, and actually moved forward from our cramped and confining views of marriage and partnership? Think of the talent that could be harnessed-given that the it appears the Congressman seemed how to know how to do his day job. For people who complain about getting the government off our our backs, they seem to turn a blind eye to telling people how to live their personal lives. Which makes them complete hypocrites IMHO. Before anyone goes high and right-live through the hell that is a sexless marriage, and then maybe, just maybe, you might have some frame of reference.

Thus I am passing along this post from John Coles place that examines this dichotomy in more detail:

Like Humans Do

by mistermix

Chris Lee is a skeezy cheater, and a hypocrite, but he’s also another reminder of the waste and pain caused by our contradictory, one-sided and archaic views of marital fidelity.(emphasis mine-SS).

Any regular Dan Savage reader/listener knows that one of his most common caller/writer is one part of a married couple who’s sexually frustrated. Usually there are children involved. Often, this person knew that they were sexually incompatible when they married, but was hoping things would change. Usually, their marriage is under a sexual death penalty: if there’s an affair, there’s a divorce.

This kind of call or letter is pretty boring because there’s really no solution accepted by mainstream society. Most of these marriages would be a hell of a lot better if the sexually unsatisfied partner had a discreet affair, but that puts the other partner in a socially untenable situation. “Open marriage” is something for dirty hippies or sleazy swingers, not an upstanding member of society. And, since the first stop for marital therapy is often a pastor or priest, it’s very unlikely that the open option will even be broached.

So, instead of negotiating an outlet, these marriages move on to a badly executed affair, tears, recriminations and, usually, divorce. The cheated-on member of the pair has the moral and legal high ground, they’re under intense social pressure to make the cheater pay, and by the time the cheating happens, the cheater’s resentment over their lack of satisfaction has probably already poisoned the well.

If we want to do something about the high divorce rate, we might want to get real about making sexual satisfaction a precursor to marriage, and also about the role of a discreet, mutually agreed-upon affair as a safety valve. Of course, religion and social norms rule that out-of-bounds. That’s too bad, because the only person more miserable that Mr. and Mrs. Chris Lee this morning is their little boy, a kid who’s in a world of hurt that might have been avoided if mom and dad had been able to negotiate a piece on the side.

Maybe there is a business opportunity here for me-opening the US franchises of well known freelancer bars!

  1. The problem is that the USA is very close to theocracy, with most politicians having to publicly embrace god and church (Christian, of course) as part of a campaign strategy. So, from that, any kind of open marriage or arrangement is marginalized, and, of course, prostitution is illegal. Not a lot of options for the unhappy husband or wife stuck in a marriage of convenience, staying together just for the kids or the public image.

  2. I don’t know the facts in the case and won’t because I don’t care enough but I will say that I have heard that 25% of the freshman Congresscritters elected in November are living in their Congressional offices since they can’t afford to maintain a home in the district they represent and one in/around the DC area. Yuk. I’ll bet most of them are married and playing geo bachelor in the office.

  3. query: When that devout Roman Catholic JFK took his vow of marriage before Yaweh, uhhh God, was there a codicil that allowed him to commit adultery? Ditto RFK, MLK, LBJ…
    Uh, I forgot THEY were liberals..never mind….

  4. He got caught and he is paying the price. I don’t think he was in charge of any committees that dealt with moral issuses. At least he has the decency to step down, not like Charlie Rangel, who will not, after he got caught cheating on his taxes, and he is on the Appropiations committee.

  5. Skippy, you are probably correct. He should have just taken the easy way. Get on the Armed Services Committee and make tours to the various US bases and exercises, and stop in Thailand or the PI and took care of it. His problem, he got too sloppy and lost the “edge” of being aware of his surroundings and thinking he was untouchable.

    He needs to go back and read the story of Icarus.

  6. There was actually a post up on another cite critiquing how amateurish his Craigslist ad was. I’ll have to find the link and post it.

  7. I am an OLD man and I barely know how to use email and whats amusing/sad to me is the utter stupidity of the YOUNG(and THEY should no better) and the not so young, about the “dangers” of e-communication etc etc.
    Some people should do the rest of us a favor and NOT procreate or vote for that matter….
    Some gene pools deserve to whither away
    and yes, SS, i know you would like to see Sarah on that list, but THAT ship has sailed.

  8. Well- I think we have already established that HER gene pool is defective…….and greedy. Unfortunately, Alaskan trailer trash seems to procreate.