Thursday, January 21, 2010

On Double Standards and Role Models

Let me start by saying EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP PEOPLE! I went to bed at 9:15pm last night, and Cooper slept until 5:30am. Today is so much better than the last week has been and that is even with me having caught his cold. He went to school today too. Ahhhh.

Okay, now onto something completely different. Senator Scott Brown. This gentleman just created a huge upset here in Massachusetts by winning the senate seat vacated by Edward Kennedy when he passed away four months ago. Senator Kennedy had held this seat since 1972. His brother John F. Kennedy had held the seat before him. It has been a democratically held seat for decades. And now it is held by a republican. And it is almost all anyone can talk about these days.

What are they NOT talking about? That Scott Brown posed nude in Cosmo when he was in law school in 1982. I personally just found out about this earlier in the week, right before the special election. I am baffled. I am amazed. I am puzzled. Only today on the news did we hear for the first time anyone mention that he had done this spread.

I ask you, if his female opponent, currently the Attorney General of MA, had posed like this for a magazine sometime in her past, would it have gone undiscussed during the campaign? I would put money on NO. Would people be referring to her as a role model to the children of this state? No.

I don't particularly CARE that he posed for Cosmo. And yes, he is a hottie. Hi The Bob. But there is such a double standard in this society it is makes the mind reel. Vanessa Williams was dethroned as Miss America because she had posed nude once upon a time. I mean MISS AMERICA doesn't create laws or political agenda and yet it was disgraceful enough that she posed nude that they took away her crown. But no one mentioned one word of this during the campaign and it is getting almost no traction now.

I am curious how Senator Brown would feel if one of his very beautiful daughters announced that they were going to fund their college education by posing for Playboy or Penthouse or even Maxim. I know you can't unring the bell, and he would probably say he wouldn't do it again if he could go back. It would be the politically correct thing to say. But I am fascinated by the fact that this has gone almost unnoticed. No one is questioning whether he is capable of making proper judgement calls on behalf of the people of MA since he possibly showed poor judgement back when he posed. But if he had been a woman it would have been a death knell for her campaign. No one questions what kind of role model he is for our youth, but if he had been a woman, I would bet people would question it.

So while I am going to hold off on forming any opinions on whether he will be a good and effective Senator, and I don't care what he did over 25 years ago to pay for law school, I mean it was legal after all, and while I give his opponent props for not being the one to bring this into the debate, I am going to continue to be puzzled by the fact it was not mentioned and am unconvinced that it is because as a society we have risen above that kind of thing. I think it is just a plain old double standard.

6 comments:

Dproudmama said...

glad to see you are back at the "rants" of life. You betcha' double standards! Yes amazzing it was not mentioned until the very last minute. Yes, good looking guy. Glad sleep was possible for all involved.

Dproudmama said...

Oh yes, page looks good. Easier on the eyes.

Susan said...

I heard about it a few weeks ago and I am in California - so maybe the local media was paid off! Or maybe you were dozing through the news after a sleepless night (like I used to do.)

Audubon Ron said...

Besides, guys only wear Speedos on the beach and if they’re fat and ugly like some older actors, and me, they can still keep their day job. The double standard is if Martha Coakly was fat and ugly…she could have always shown nude pics if she wanted I suppose but not sure that would have helped her, but I wouldn’t give her props just yet, she didn’t have to make an issue of the nude shots, every other Democrat did. That pic has been around for a long time. I saw it on national news well before the election. I suppose he was after the female vote.

Vanessa on the other hand left nothing for imagination and sadly there were some very suggestive poses with her and another woman that if Brown did, I’m sure he wouldn’t have had any chance whatsoever.

On another point, I’m all for super models running for office. If they’re gonna be nut jobs like Arlen Spector, at least they can be easy to look at.

Wenderina said...

I had not heard about this - what a bombshell. More evidence that the DNC completely blew this one. While I personally would not have voted for him (on issues, not party), I am interested to see how the congress does with it's new makeup. I'm not in favor of any one party ramming legislation through because it holds the majority...but I am in favor of getting something...anything... done.

Mrs. G. said...

Amen, sister!