Think about it
Sex crimes among the powerful
By Jun Velasco
“Those things that hurt, instruct.” – Benjamin Franklin
MOST of us who read or saw it on TV can only pity a potential next president of France, resigned International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, for his fall from grace.
Already 62, the libidinous world monetary leader scandalized everyone when in a flash of sexual urge grabbed a hotel chambermaid, forced her to oral sex and, as the wires said, sexually assaulted her.
The bizarre incident shows only too vividly that even supposedly respectable world leaders are not exempt from sex scandal. We thought Kahn should have learned a little or two from a well-known Filipino womanizer, our former President Erap, who is relaxed with women. He doesn’t hide his philandering activities and considering our lax laws on Casanovas and lover boys, Erap has remained very popular and acceptable to women.
What obviously was wrong with Mr. Kahn was his use of force on a woman, a universal crime because women should be treated gently.
That the crime of the fallen Frenchman was not unusual to the French who, as you all know, were expert kissers (French kiss, remember?) should give us an inkling of their hot bloodedness. No less than former President Francois Mitterand was himself a confessed womanizer. It was later learned that the French government financially supported his mistress and their daughter.
We came to know of Kahn’s stupid crime at the same time that movie idol turned California politician, now ex governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, also told the wires that he was the father of a pretty member of his staff. His admission was enough to send his beautiful and regal wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver away from home.
Had Khan used no violence, probably the world would have been kinder to him and kick the incident to an ordinary lovers’ quarrel.
Philippine society has a surplus of love/sex-related accounts involving the powerful.
Open secret dalliances are a common fare in coffee shops and almost everywhere anywhere. There’s ordinary talk that Ferdinand Marcos’ true love was not Imelda. Our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, is a known bohemio. One of the greatest US presidents, John Kennedy, was sharing a woman (Marilyn Monroe) his brother, Robert Kennedy, and yet the world has remained kind to them.
When we socialized with Chinese journalists about five years ago in Beijing, there was a liberal attitude among them to stories about their great leader having many wives. When Arturo Tolentino was still alive, we had a chance to chat with him at a house of his Number 5. She is native of San Carlos City. His Number 5 (not soup no. 5, ha Boy Rayos?) was a trial court judge). They didn’t hide their affair, in fact, they were proud of it.
And so we come back to the case of Mr. Kahn, which was a sharp departure from the common-ness of secret love stories, his application of physical violence.
You and us know quite well that that thing has no place in a sweet and soft world of love.
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