by B. R. GOWANI
Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., sent a photo of himself in gray boxer briefs to Meagan Broussard of Texas by email on May 18, 2011. He sent the same photo to a Seattle college student by Twitter on May 27. He also sent his shirtless photo on Twitter. ABC News
Exhibitionism
First, a few words about exhibitionism. There were times that men could get away with a great many things. This may still exist in other places. However, the feminist and equal rights movement in the Western world has benefited women substantially and has transformed many men while pushing the unchanged ones into the closet.
The exhibitionistic tendency is one of human characteristics. (The term exhibitionistic is used here in dual sense: the exposing, that is, mooning, streaking, etc. as a sign of protest and also exposing as an act committed simply to draw attention for sexual or other purpose.)
The way male clothes are designed, it leaves very little room to expose willfully and then get away with an excuse that it was an accident as female celebrities do. There is no law that females have to wear panties and so the short dress and mini skirt allows them to bless the male eyes with a view they could cherish for some time.
For this tragedy, men themselves are to be blamed. They had a good chance to change this in the 1960s when unisex movement started. Hair salons and stores became unisex serving both genders, but when it came to clothing, females opted for pants and other clothes generally associated with males. Males could have chosen to wear skirts and dresses and it would have gained acceptance because the anti-establishment and liberating movement was very strong then.
Skirts and dresses, without underwear could have allowed those males wishing to get a bit of exposure to display their assets and call it an accident.
Until the emergence of another unisex movement, what those men, who’re in exhibitionistic mood, should go for are Scottish kilt, or Arab male robes called jellaba, or sarong/lungi, which could be shortened to knee-length in order to achieve the purpose.
News media
A serious news story has little impact when followed by ads of skimpily clad beautiful women trying to seduce you into buying something. The infotainment media is aware of this and so when they really want you to get involved in the news they’ll constantly repeat a specific news item in such an attention-drawing way, with photos, bars, graphs, that it gets ingrained on viewers’ brains. It then becomes an issue which people talk about. Now the media uses that as an excuse: “We’re covering this news item because people want it covered”.
From waging wars against underdeveloped countries to maligning a group of people, from striking one more kick on a falling celebrity to maliciously attacking poor people, the media always uses that time tested strategy of repeating the same thing over and over again.
The recent target was a Democrat Anthony Weiner (Congressperson from New York). He sent some pictures and was involved in sexting with half a dozen or so members of the opposite sex. Nothing illegal was involved in his activities. The harm he had done was to his married life. But the way the media people pounced on him was as if he has committed some heinous crime and the media was acting in the interest of the country. Over two weeks, they constantly talked about it by displaying the pictures. All the same they also read letter from viewers, including those which emphasized that it’s between Weiner and his wife. Barbara Walters, one of the old hands at hypocrisy, put a hand between her face and a giant screen in the back showing Wiener’s waist-up shirtless body. Surprising, considering the fact that she, like other reporters, hobnobs with warmongers, exploiters, and over-sexual celebrities.
Instead, if the media had devoted these two weeks to issues such as victims of war on drugs, or the war on Libya, or unemployment, or some other such issue, it could have brought some positive changes.
Congress
Many Congress persons, including from Weiner’s own party, demanded his resignation for bringing disrepute to Congress. One wonders how much Congress’ reputation was enhanced when on May 25, the Congresspersons raised and dropped their asses applauding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s defiant stand against Obama’s suggestion that the State of Palestine should be established along the pre-1967 War borders.
(In 1948, Israel was established on Palestinian land and by 1967, it grabbed the remaining 22% of the Palestinian territory. Israeli leaders don’t even want to give back total control of the 22% Palestinian land to the Palestinian people.)
House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, (also from Weiner’s party) had raised an ethics issue. This is the same Pelosi who had refused to go for Bush’s impeachment–even though, Bush was a perfect candidate for impeachment. In 2006 she had said: “I have said it before and I will say it again: Impeachment is off the table.”
It’s ironic that US Congress, one of the corruptest institutions in the United States, was talking about reputation and ethics.
President
President Barack Obama doesn’t want any distraction at the moment; he is focusing on 2012 election. So he said: “I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign.” Currently, Obama is at war with five countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, and Yemen. All those wars are illegal. As a President, the 1973 War Powers Act permits him to go to war without Congressional authority. But that is for 60 days. In case of Libya, he was required to go to Congress, Sixty days have passed, but he has ignored the Congress.
The readers should figure out who should have resigned.
Sadly, it is Weiner who resigned yesterday.
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com