Monday, June 20, 2011

Anthony Weiner: Just Like Me

"The word "other" is commonly used in English as both an adjective and a pronoun. As an adjective: "Born on the other side of the tracks." As a pronoun: "If it's not one thing, it's the other."  Anthony Weiner: Just Like Me is a fairly blistering article on this topic that won't go away.


"For the last 10 days, our latest "otherfest" has focused on Rep. Anthony Weiner, whose name made him a larger-than-life-disney-cartoon disaster waiting to happen. Republicans are having a field day, of course, and even the members of his own party are calling for his resignation. Now don't get me wrong here. I'm not advocating sending snaps of your private parts to women you hardly know. I don't condone lying, or emotionally abandoning your recently pregnant wife. Probably everyone, including Rep. Weiner himself, agrees that these actions were stupid, immature, and hurtful to other people."


"We can learn from this and many other current events, however, by shifting our attention from "what that terrible, despicable, lying rotten good-for-nothing over there did," to "why are we getting so upset about this and giving it so much attention?"


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arjuna-ardagh/personal-growth-life-mistakes_b_877891.html


"Why do we use the news so frequently for collective "othering?" One important reason is that there are weaknesses from which we all suffer: you, me and everyone we know. For example, pretty much every married man suffers from a case, be it mild or strong, of the wandering eye. His attention is caught by a pretty face, or a shapely curve, before he even has time to think about it. He might sometimes gaze at the thousands of naked women available on the web. He might even go all out and have an affair. Generally, he feels bad about all of the above, he frequently lies about it, hoping no one finds out about neither his actions, nor his secret thoughts and dreams. He knows that all this distracts him from true intimacy with his wife, and she knows it too. Yet he doesn't know what to do about it. It is a dangerous weakness we all have. If we act on these impulses and get caught, they can destroy our marriage or career. So when a man conveniently called Weiner makes the mistake of following the impulses of his weiner, it is not just his issue. It is every man's secret nightmare, and let it be noted, his wife's as well."


Sexual addiction, narcissism, self absorption, obsession with pornography are all part of these heartbreaking, life destroying actions that seem to be an increasingly dangerous entrapment for men.  Anthony Weiner: Just Like Me is a very loud wake up call for "others" as this article spells out in very clear terms. 

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