The Incredible Helplessness of Men: Lust Edition, Epilogue

Following up my last post about the John Edwards and Rielle Hunter affair, have a look at some of the comments on the article I cited. (Under the jump.)

Gross. Her skin is pasty, not attractive, especially when paired with a white bathing suit.
– Shelly, Nashville, USA, 20/6/2012 23:37

Jeez you have to be kidding, I am 71 and my body looks a damn site better than that.
– Nancy, Florida., 20/6/2012 22:23

She looks fetching??? She lookes more like she should be fetching a bone? I can’t believe this is what Edwards risked everything for. Pasty-white skin that is saggy and old looking wiht no morals whatsoever. Nice legacy for his children. I guess if the lights are low and she is good in bed he thought it was worth it. Woof!
– ARS, NYC, 20/6/2012 20:08

On my most desperate day, and after a six pack while doing shots of Tequila, even blindfolded the answer would still be no…without even a second thought. What the heck was he thinking. Is that the best a multi-millionaire lawyer with presidential aspirations can do? I mean..he is fooling around right? He could at least make it worth it. I could leave my desk right now, walk down to the supermarket parking lot and walk away with something better.
– resident, somewhere in America, 20/6/2012 20:07

Over-processed hair, droopy breasts, ugly swimsuit, fat mid-section that she thinks she is disguising with ugly swimsuit . . . what in the world did Edwards see in her? She could improve her appearance a little by putting some self-tanner on that pasty white skin.
– DSB, Houston, TX USA, 20/6/2012 19:53

If you had any doubt that what I described in the last post was patriarchy at work, I hope these have made the issue clearer. Confronted with the picture of a woman who delusionally pursued a married man and is now attempting to sell a memoir about it, after viciously attacking that man’s dying wife, what are the criticisms levied against her?

Pasty skin. An ugly swimsuit. “Droopy” breasts. “Fat” midsection.

And then there are all the assertions that (a) he could do better, (b) the commenter could do better or is better looking, (c) if you’re going to cheat, make it “worth it.” What’s the underlying belief here? That it would be somehow more reasonable to maintain a six-year affair in public office, even while your wife is dying of an excruciating disease, if the woman you’re cheating with were more attractive?

The Daily Mail is a piece of trash. But people read it. They comment on it. They say things like that. We live in that culture, whether we respect it or not. Now let’s get on with changing it, shall we?