The Power of Discourse in a Political Sex Scandal :: Politics Political Sex Gender Essays

The Power of converse in a Political conjure up ScandalOn majestic 12th, 2004 New Jersey Governor James McGreevey became this nations first openly cheerful state governor. Several moments after he stated, I am a human being American, he succumbed to intense political and public force per unit atomic number 18a by announcing his surrender from New Jerseys most powerful position. This announcement and giving up came after a week of intense allegations that McGreevey sexually harassed a potent colleague whom he had appointed. While American politics are not foreign to sexual scandal, the political destruction and individual batter which McGreevey currently faces is poignantly unique. Throughout his career, McGreevey has been formally investigated for unethical political practices on at least 4 occasions. One of the current investigations includes allegations of fraudulent tend finance practices and nepotism within upper end political appointments. Despite the sharpness of th ese allegations, it was the charge of sexual assault from a male employee that forced his resignation and retirement from politics. In order to understand the severity of the sexual molestation allegations against McGreevey, it is necessary to look at the situation through the eye of Rubin and Foucault. non only did McGreeveys actions reflect the social sexual hierarchy described by Rubin, but through his secrecy and discretion McGreevey disrupted the powerful handling of his position with political and public realms.In her essay Thinking Sex, Gayle Rubin strictly outlines the rules of sexual conduct which currently exist in westbound society. These rules have created a sexual hierarchy which places heterosexual, monogamous, married, reproductive sex at the top. Anything deterring from this position, is placed below in varying degrees. The allegations of sexual assault make against McGreevey not only announce publicly his sexual preference, but fit in to Rubin, place him at the very bottom of the sexual hierarchy. First and foremost, McGreevey is a married man. Any act of sexual advance towards anyone besides his wife can be seen as adulterous. Second, these sexual advances were made toward a male colleague while McGreevey remained in a heterosexual marriage. Thus, in the eyes of a bystander, he is eliciting homosexual behavior without claiming full affiliation with the gay community. Most importantly, the allegations of sexual harassment bring into question the consensual genius of his advances. As Rubin explains A democratic morality should judge sexual acts by the way partners treat one another, the level of mutual consideration, the presence or absence of coercion, and the quantity and quality of the pleasures which they provide.