Prominent politician John Edwards, a former U.S. Senator from North Carolina, has recently admitted to fathering a child with a woman he had an affair with in 2008, during his presidential campaign. News of John Edwards’ affair has created a media frenzy. Every newspaper, news channel, and all over the Internet, different accounts regarding the recent events of Senator Edwards’ actions are circulating. During the last week of January, the New York Times reported: “Edwards Admits He Fathered Girl with Mistress.” About a week later, the news website Politics Daily broke a story, “Elizabeth Edwards and John Edwards separate, Can Divorce in One Year.” Edwards released a statement to the Associated Press on January 21 with his recent personal news. John Edwards has truly embraced his societal role as a Caucasian male from a reputable background, destroying his family life while getting caught up in the whims of an unsuccessful political campaign.
Today, politicians have a certain image to live up to. In recent years, politicians have been uncovered in partaking in numerous affairs while spending long hours at work in Washington D.C. for the majority of the calendar year. These infidelities have driven numerous political figures to exposure in the media and often, divorce. John Edwards is no exception. The societal image of a politician is somewhat homogeneous; we believe in Caucasian men running our political system who give off the right “image” of strong, moral convictions with a family life many desire to have. Somehow, the tumultuous love lives of many politicians have become household conversation in America – the double standard still exists. Ariel Levy discusses the history of the double standard in her book, Female Chauvinist Pigs, pointing out, “free love was edifying for a man, immoral for a woman.”[1] It almost seems that the standards of the 1970s, during the Second Wave Feminist Movement, have not changed up until today. John Edwards has received a large amount of scrutiny ever since the news of his affair became public, but one cannot help ask the controversial question: What would the media response be if this was a female politician who became pregnant out of wedlock?
John Edwards released the statement admitting to be the father of Quinn Hunter, and immediately left to offer his personal aid to the disaster-stricken country of Haiti, reported Politics Daily.[2] The hype around this affair, as well as John Edwards’ responses appear to seek media attention. Elizabeth Edwards is hardly discussed in many of the press releases, not to mention she has been in and out of a battle with stage four metastatic cancer in recent years. Although this does not pertain to the actions of John Edwards, this brings one to question the values of an elected official who is representing our nation. So many of these men are educated with long marriages and numerous children. Allan Johnson, in his article “Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us,” discusses the system in which we live: “we develop a sense of personal identity—including gender—and how this positions us in relation to other people, especially in terms of inequalities of power.”[3] Because Senator Edwards is a prominent face in society, he is above the standards protocol of behavior within a marriage. Instead, in his press release regarding the daughter he had with the videographer Rielle Hunter, former Senator Edwards draws in a sense of sympathy for his daughter, after “a lengthy period of denials and disclosures,” reports Julie Bosman for the New York Times.[4]
Bosman’s newspaper article, as well as Emily Miller’s article in Politics Daily report of the “public image rehibilitation” Edwards is working towards.[5] His need to exercise poise and control throughout this ordeal comes across as alarming. With four children and a wife of 22 years, the media has not spent a lot of time reporting on these aspects of his personal life. We have become a culture that is obsessed with things that are morally unsound. After becoming legally separated from his wife, Miller reports that Edwards has been spending time at his family’s vacation home near Wilmington, North Carolina. He reportedly has made efforts to have sexual relations with women from the area.[6] Although many reports are speculation, the accusations are out there for the world to read, including Edwards’ former wife and children.
The fact that we as a society have turned John Edwards’ life into a spectacle tells a lot about the entertainment value we assign to people in power. Elizabeth Edwards has not been taken into account publicly or embraced by the media. Senator Edwards hardly expresses a tinge of remorse towards the pain he has caused his family and confidants during this time. It all seems to be about power, media relations, and a public image to maintain. John Edwards, whether or not he has made political progress for the American people, embodies the type of man that takes advantage of women and of his position in society. I believe I can safely say that the public perception of this incident would be much more harsh had the politician been female. The double standard here is more than apparent. Elizabeth Edwards will continue her life, most likely involved in the lives of her children, and working to stay healthy. On the other hand, Senator Edwards will move on to other professional endeavors, and from what it seems thus far, more women. He has perpetuated many stereotypes about men in power in this country and how the women in their lives have been taken advantage of. The media has a way of making events seem more promiscuous, adding the entertainment value for the public. Unfortunately, this time, it has been at the expense of John Edwards’ wife, a woman who stood by her husband in all of his political endeavors, while he turned his back on his family for his own sexual pleasure and personal benefit.
[1] Ariel Levy, Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. (New York: Free Press, 2005), 59.
[2] Emily Miller, “Elizabeth Edwards and John Edwards Separate, Can Divorce in One Year,” Politics Daily, January 27, 2010.
[3] Allen G. Johnson, “Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us.”
[4] Julie Bosman, “Edwards Admits He Fathered Girl With Mistress,” The New York Times, January 22, 2010.
[5] Bosman, ibid.
[6] Miller, ibid.
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