Sex can be a political tool, but our culture of shame is helping to prop up capitalism and the patriarchy
When sex enters America’s national politics, it’s almost always the result of assault or scandal. The current president is a self-avowed perpetrator who defended the alleged pedophile Roy Moore and was buddies with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Bill Clinton faced a scandal over his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, and was accused of sexual assault by several women. The former New York congressman Anthony Weiner was convicted of sending dick pics to a minor.
More often, though, sex isn’t allowed to enter our politics at all. In a small but revealing moment last month, Pete Buttigieg’s campaign canceled a fundraiser at a gay bar because the owner refused to remove a dance pole from the premises. The campaign’s demurral captured a criticism that many people in the queer community have made of the first viable out-of-the-closet candidate for the US presidency: he’s just not queer enough. But the reality is it would be hard to imagine any candidate holding a fundraiser at a strip club. No matter what their positions were on living wage laws, parental leave, abortion access or any other policies that could improve women’s lives, they would be pundited right out of the polls.
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Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
