Greta Christina has a righteous column about the Tiger Woods text (sext?) messages to one of his sex partners, which, I’ll admit, I had not heard about until I read her column. The whole sex scandal thing slipped under my radar, when I wasn’t deliberately ignoring it, but I’ll admit this column has me intrigued. The text messages, she says, makes her view the whole situation with more compassion, to see him as a human being — a kinky human being — faced with the troubles that any closeted kinky person goes through.
However:
I’m not totally letting Tiger Woods off the hook. For one thing, I have a serious problem with the deliberate way he played the squeaky- clean public persona to his advantage. There’s a difference between keeping your sexuality private, and deliberately projecting a deceptive, concocted image of it. What’s more, the squeaky-clean, All-American, family-man schtick totally plays into the exact same sex-negativity and kink- negativity I’ve been complaining about. I have compassion for kinky people who feel like they have to stay in the closet and get their kinky thrills on the down low. I have rather less compassion for people who do all this … while at the same time trading on the idea that a nicey-nice sex life somehow makes you a better citizen/ role model/ sneaker salesman. It’s not as bad as closeted politicians who vote for anti-gay legislation while screwing around on the sly with same-sex partners … but it’s in a similar category, and it’s a category that ticks me off.
It’s an interesting perspective, and a useful, informative column, and though I could still really give a rat’s ass about who the man sleeps with, it made me think, which is more than I can say for any other coverage of this nonsense.
