Politicians and sex scandals: A more frequent combination?
In the last two years, at least 100 US and UK political leaders have been involved in sexual scandals. Are the numbers increasing?
In the last two years, the sex scandals of political leaders and public figures seem to have tripled. Movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp have exposed, in the main media coverage, cases of harassment and abuse against women perpetrated by familiar faces in society. However, have these incidents really become more frequent or is it just a new way of reporting?
Leer en español: Políticos y escándalos sexuales: ¿Un cóctel cada vez más frecuente?
In January 2018, a sex scandal shook US President Donald Trump after media revealed that his lawyer had paid $ 130,000 dollars to adult movie star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence regarding an intimate, consensual meeting that would have taken place in 2006 between the two of them.
During the past month of June, Trump's sexual behavior returned to the news after a recording was filtered. In that soundtrack, the president analyzed with his lawyer how to buy the testimony rights of a former Playboy model, with whom he would also have had an intimate encounter.
However, Donald Trump is not the only political leader tarnished in such situations. According to media reports such as CNN and BBC, since January 2017, at least 60 American and 36 British politicians have been involved in sexual scandals. The figure has ignited the alarms of organizations that defend the rights of women. However, for some experts this type of behaviors rather than increasing have simply gained greater visibility.
More cases or more technology?
As explained by Ross Benes, journalist and author of the book Turned On (a publication that explains how sexuality permeates and molds every aspect of society), explains that although nowadays it seems increasingly frequent that public figures and political leaders have inappropriate sexual behaviors, it is the responsibility of the media coverage that scandals are known globally.
According to Benes, until the 1960s, the private lives of politicians were forbidden to the press, and anyone who dared to speak about their lives could risk losing their license or valuable sources. For example, during the 11 years of the then president Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945), the president was rarely photographed in his wheelchair and the press could not talk about his five lovers.
In France, the sex scandals of political leaders seemed not to shake society as long as their responsibility to the people was not affected. One of these situations was lived from 1981 to 1995 during the mandate of François Mitterrand, who publicly acknowledged having had two families. However, only when it was known that he provided for both families with public monies, the situation became problematic and subject of public scrutiny.
In this way and as argued by Ross Benes, with the arrival of 24 hour news broadcasts in the 90s, the media began to approach information from different angles and the audience could receive the message at any time.
In a more contemporary context, electronic devices, social networks, and the active participation of users in the distribution of information through comments, 'likes' and 'shares', makes the sexual scandals of public figures more relevant, know immediately. This is why it looks like the situation increased.
LatinAmerican Post | Krishna Jaramillo
Translated from “Políticos y escándalos sexuales: ¿Un cóctel cada vez más frecuente?”
