Faces of Shame

Posted by Greg Laden on March 12, 2008
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i-e0004d297f6e4e439de0345157078026-vitter.jpgThis is a picture of David Vitter, who was caught up in a prostitution ring in 2007. His face exhibits a certain look, one that may be referred to as an expression of shame.

i-f8178fa1bd1baa09a9966b99ba2ba0df-spitzer.jpgHere we have New York Governor, or should I say the Former New York Governor, Eliot Spitzer, in a state of shame regarding … what was it again? (That was so long ago) … Right .. a thing with a prostitute. Again, we see the same expression on his face …

i-3a9fc9a236fdd3f4ded3ba99567eca31-craig.jpgHere is Larry Craig, who carried out shameful activities in one of the men’s restrooms at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul airport, with an undercover police officer who promptly arrested him. Again, we see a similar pattern in the down turned and tightly closed mouth.

These photos and many more can be viewed at Am New York.

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  1. #1 the real cmf
    March 12, 2008

    The face of “men who had sex with consenting adult women shame”–male shame over consensual adult variety sex.

    Here are the faces of female pedophiles–the few that have actually been caught due to lopsided definitions of sexuality, and none of them exhibit one singular wrinkle line of shame as seen above….
    http://crime.about.com/od/sex/ig/female_pedophiles

  2. #2 dd
    March 12, 2008

    That looks more like a “Shit, I got caught” face to me.

  3. #3 Mark P
    March 12, 2008

    cmf, to be more accurate, most of the women who have been charged with sexual misconduct with underage males are not pedophiles, since that term strictly refers to sexual attraction to children, that is, individuals who are not sexually mature. Most of the women so charged have been involved with sexually mature males, although they have been under the legal age of consent. There is a difference, and the law has recognized that in most cases.

  4. #4 Maria
    March 12, 2008

    cmf, aside from the pictures that were obviously taken before they were caught, the women seem pretty contrite to me. Of course Spitzer is probably smiling in his yearbook photo.

  5. #5 the real cmf
    March 12, 2008

    ya know, sometimes the comments I get in regards to this issue smack derisively of that era before it was OK for girls to tell.

    I await the awakening of the era when boys are provided with the language of abuse as girls have been for the last half decade, and when it is OK for boys to do tell as well.

    Until then, it looks like we are stuck in the Freudian idea that abuse is just some fantasy, but now, as it always has been, boys are taught it is normal, and ok, and when people do comment on the issue,it is with negation/denial/minimalisation.

    Yeah, I’m with you guys: you’re right, the boys wanted it.

  6. #6 the real cmf
    March 12, 2008

    Mark: really…elaborate on sexual maturity then, could you?

    Because the onset of menarche in girls ranges from 9 to 21. Please DO explain your thoughts here.

  7. #7 Mark P
    March 12, 2008

    Here are my thoughts, cmf, which can also be found in many dictionaries. Pedophiles are attracted sexually to children who are not sexually mature. Sexual maturity occurs at varying ages, but once a child reaches sexual maturity, attraction to that person no longer involves attraction to a sexually immature person. Is that clear? Common usage of the term “pedophile” often includes attraction to sexually mature individuals under the legal age of consent, as yours did. So in common usage your use is not incorrect. It is simply misleading.

    If you want to know the definition of sexual maturity, I think in common usage it means the age at which a male can impregnate a female and the age at which a female can be impregnated. It does not mean physical maturity, emotional maturity or intellectual maturity. For example, I presume that you are sexually mature.

  8. #8 Mark P
    March 12, 2008

    I should also point out that in some cases the law has recognized that a male’s sexual contact with a legally underage female is different from the common perception of pedophilia, and has punished such males less severely than if the female in question were a sexually immature female.

  9. #9 the real cmf
    March 13, 2008

    Mark, you still skirt the primary issues here: one, is that we always shame meales for their legal sexual liasons, and two, these women *are* pedophiles as defined by law. ( I am certain you did not read through every case I pointed to above with the female pedophiles)

    The law as it exists today, and that includes virtually all laws in this area, exists to criminalize, and penalize males at a higher frequency than females, and that nationwide, laws exist for that sole purpose ( In the case of prisons, there are 20 men in prison for every woman there)
    So unless you are arguing some NAMBLA type perspective, which would be reprehensible, you are missing the point. Males are shamed at a higher rate, with higher social costs, than females, and the topic of equality in this area, or equal definitional models, is non-existent.

    My point is that male sexuality–particularly straight male sexuality–has a higher staigma attached today, and higher expectations to kowtow to ‘social norms’.

    Equally, in your argument, you have skirted the opposite sex hypotheses, which is that some girls–by your definition–are sexually mature at 9 years old–and missed a larger point about maturity, which is that it cna be guaged in’emotional’ terms as well, seperate from physical maturity. Point being, that physical maturation alone does not indicate sexual maturity.