To the Editor, “Stand by your man,” goes the Tammy Wynette tune. “Every time you go away / I always say this time it’s goodbye,” sang Dusty Springfield. “They say I’m a fool / cause you treat me so cruel / But I’ll go on this way,” the Shirelles lamented. Nowadays, most self-respecting women laugh at the needy sap peddled by such odes to a lack of female backbone. But somehow, when male politicians (no data yet available on female politicians) can’t resist groping interns/policemen/prostitutes, and the time comes to advise their wronged wives, the media seems to suddenly downshift into the didactic drivel of the 1950s: stay at your husband’s side. Be loyal, composed, and for god’s sake make sure your makeup is perfect. Show as little emotion as possible, and tell the press that you’re giving your wonderful man all the love and support he needs as he goes through this trying ordeal. I’m scratching my head and pondering this ridiculous paradox as I read an article in the Buffalo News covering the demise of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer after he was found to have been deeply involved with a high-end prostitute operation. The article is accompanied by a sidebar about Silda Wall Spitzer and other political wives who have chosen to stay with their husbands in the face of infidelity. It notes that Ms. Spitzer was wearing “an attractive light blue suit and a double string of pearls” and that “her makeup was flawless and her hair stylish.” It appears that when it comes to infidelity in the already sleazy world of politics, the offender’s wife may only show the public a selfless, unconditionally supportive background figure, willing to overlook her husband’s humiliating behavior in order to score points with the media. What kind of message are these political wives sending to the young girls for whom they are supposed to be role models? That a powerful man’s incompetence is excusable if he can provide you with a house in Chappaqua and a heated limo? The next time a politician gets caught with his pants down in an infidelity scandal, I would love, just once, to see his wife slap him with divorce papers at the hearing. I want to see a public purse-beating a la Sandra Oh in Sideways. I want to see payback for the old-as-the-hills double standard that treats male infidelity like an advanced-age manifestation of pubescent shenanigans to be tsked at but somehow expected. Politicians are supposed to be held accountable for every detail of their lives. So when it comes to their marriages, why should they enjoy a get-out-of-jail-free card? Julia Burke UB?Student To the Editor, So it’s not just because you guys are my good friends, but IRYW is fucking funny. Good work. I’d tell you if it sucked, too. The thing about hanging yourself with your ex-lover’s hair—classy and practical, as it saves a trip to the hardware store to buy rope. I don’t know if the Academy would really go for it because they didn’t give There Will Be Blood the best picture, but those things are pretty much a career-killer anyway, I’ve heard. Swiping Jokes, A?Reader
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