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

The Power of Discourse in a Political Sex Scandal On August 12th, 2004 New Jersey Governor James McGreevey became this nation's first openly gay state governor. Several moments after he stated, "I am a gay American", he succumbed to intense political and public pressure by announcing his resignation from New Jersey's most powerful position. This announcement and resignation came after a week of intense allegations that McGreevey sexually harassed a male colleague whom he had appointed. While American politics are not foreign to sexual scandal, the political destruction and individual defeat 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 campaign finance practices and nepotism within upper end political appointments. Despite the severity of these allegations, it was the charge of sexual assault from a male employee that forced his resigna tion and retirement from politics. In order to understand the severity of the sexual harassment allegations against McGreevey, it is necessary to look at the situation through the eyes of Rubin and Foucault. Not only did McGreevey's actions reflect the social sexual hierarchy described by Rubin, but through his secrecy and discretion McGreevey disrupted the powerful discourse 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 Western 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 made against McGreevey not only announce publicly his sexual preference, but according 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 nature 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.