Am I the only married man outraged by the media’s brutal attack on Anthony Weiner? When did married men become so emasculated that they can sit back and watch a gender brother be publically ridiculed, scorned, condemned and then stripped of everything he achieved simply because he flirted with women on the internet? I can’t think of another group of individuals, including and especially women, who would sit by passively while this level of exposure was ruthlessly doled out upon one of their own.
How disconnected from our masculinity do we have to be not to hear the message being delivered to us? If you missed it, listen up: “In light of the events that forced Anthony Weiner to resign, it is hereby declared that any married man caught wandering into the Anthony Weiner Zone of Shame will have his life, the life of his wife and the life of his unborn child catastrophically changed forever.”
My gender brothers, where are you? The noose around our collective necks just got yanked tighter. Is that what we want? If we don’t speak out against this subjugation, our silence will legitimize this treatment and give our culture permission to indict us at their whim.
Millions of married men satisfy harmless sexual fantasies on the internet everyday. So what? It is none of our business. Why should the media be allowed to use a man’s sexual fantasies against him? They shouldn’t. We have to stand up for our gender brothers or they will continue to be skewered and who knows, you may be next. Imagine how your life would change if your sexual fantasies cost you your job, your marriage and your relationship with your family, friends and children.
All healthy, virile, heterosexual men are connected to one other by virtue of their God-given sexuality. We did not choose our sexuality any more than we chose our elbow. Our sex drive is a natural occurring force of nature; it is organic and unstoppable. That’s a fact, like it, or not. But since we have no Oprah to enlighten the masses or defend this essential part of our masculinity, we have to defend ourselves. The media made millions of dollars each day and their ratings soared because they kept the Anthony Weiner story alive. They profited while they systematically destroyed a man, his career and his family. Why did they do it? Because they could! And, they had Anthony Weiner’s help. If Anthony Weiner had told his wife his sexual truth, the media would not have had a story.
Men, do yourselves a favor. Tell your mate your sexual truth. If you like porn, say so. If you like lap dances say so. Be honest. If you tell the truth to the people who matter, no one can “out” you, no one can manipulate you and no one can hurt you. Speak your truth before it’s too late, before we are completely neutered. Be a hero for your sons and grandsons. Some day they will thank you for it.
As e red-blooded American guy, card-carrying masculinist/activist and reader of your book, I wish that I could agree with you, but I can't.
ReplyDeleteWeiner is entitled to fulfill his sexual needs on the internet, but he went way beyond privately watching online porn. He ventured into the public domain by contacting women on Facebook while being a Congressman and being married. One of the women he contacted was 17. He was stupid. He was a strident publicity hound. I enjoyed watching his rants and his going toe to toe with cretins like O'Reilly and Hannity, so he needed to be very careful not to screw up because they wouldn't let him just fade into the background like wimps like Senators Larry Craig and David Vitter. Weiner is from the biggest media market in the world.
I wish he had just jerked off in his office and gotten his rocks off that way, but this wasn't just sex- this was about power and feeling invulnerable. Anthony Weiner liked his body and that's really good, but to start tweeting pics of his pecker is just too stupid to be believed. He's supposed to be smart, but he started believing his own bullshit- that he was a media star. What the media giveth, the media taketh away. Sorry. Those are the facts of life.
How come there are so few women who don't end up stepping on their own dick so to speak? Is it a gender flaw? It's a little embarrassing, because it makes it harder on the rest of us. I agree that there's rampant reverse discrimination, but Weiner set the clock back.
Michael, many guys write Weiner off as acting stupid. But to leave it at that just further delegitimizes the character and power behind heterosexual men's sexuality - thus giving our culture the thumbs up to continue using it against us. But hey, who wants to go that deep? Like you said, "It’s embarrassing." So I guess it's better to stick with the competitive programming we assimilated as kids: Every man for himself.
ReplyDeleteIf a brother goes down, you get as much distance as you can from that stupid shit. Hey, it wasn't you who fucked up. Just point your finger at the loser and laugh. You'd never do something like he did. And, there's a bonus - you can feel that rush of superiority.
Yeah, there it is. Nice, huh?
Stay hidden and you're home free! If you start relating to Weiner, you'll end up exactly where he is. Best to show nothing: no relating to, no identifying with, and no empathy towards. No self-reflecting bullshit, either. After all, this is not the time for honest soul searching or you'll have be honest about your sex life too. God-forbid any man comes forth and tells the truth about that. Anthony Weiner’s gone. Do you want to be next?
You were right, Mike. Weiner fucked us.