Nation

Chapter 4 shows how American sex scandals have a specifically national element inspired by evangelical thinking. How a politician is accountable for illicit sex depends on whether he typifies white masculine norms, and whether he symbolizes a protector who will keep white Americans safe from their enemies, both foreign (e.g., Muslim terrorists) and domestic (e.g., poor blacks). Politicians thus function like national fathers whose indecencies Americans tolerate so long as they can assure the white public of the nation’s strength. To chart this idea, the author explores the proliferation of family rhetoric in political speech across the 1970s and1980s (including that of Ronald Reagan), discusses the racialized gender norms that politicians follow to increase their public appeal, and shows how Americans see themselves as childlike citizens who need a father’s protection. These ideals are borne out in a comparison of the sex scandals of Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, and John Edwards.

Sex

Evangelicalism has long provided American culture with the vocabulary through which to talk about sex and who can appropriately engage in it. This chapter briefly discusses six general presumptions of evangelical thinking about sex, gender, and race inspired by feminist theorist Gayle Rubin; these elements help frame specific excerpts of evangelical marriage and sexual advice literature, which naturalize hypersexual men and their passively sexual women. The chapter discusses the substantial racial subtexts at work in these excerpts that tacitly connect whiteness (and white sexuality, in particular) with moral virtue, and describes how these have become American ideals. To see these ideals at work, a case study compares the scandals of Anita Hill (versus Clarence Thomas) and Paula Jones (versus Bill Clinton). Both Hill and Jones were deemed sexual failures by the American public according to the evangelical standards for female sexuality that were used to define their credibility.

Media

Chapter 5 shows how the media’s portrayal of sex scandals may appear to hold wayward politicians responsible, but ends up reinforcing a white heterosexual double standard influenced by evangelical thinking. This occurs when white male politicians are portrayed as shameful but relatively benign while the women around them (including their wives) are often equally shamed. The chapter examines the conditions behind today’s sex scandal reporting, including the 1980s televangelist sex scandals and other Reagan-era events that heightened public interest in journalism on sex. It examines multiples media frames used to portray white politicians as silly, their lovers as immoral, and their wives as unattractive and power-hungry or silent and weak. A case study compares the media coverage of Anthony Weiner with that of Arnold Schwarzenegger to show that stereotypes about Weiner’s Jewish identity and his virtual sexting habit rendered him a much weaker figure than Schwarzenegger, whose sex scandals were almost non-events.

Religion

Many argue that religious people are hypocritical when they support an adulterous politician. This chapter examines the religious and moralistic rhetoric often featured in sex scandals to show that such rhetoric is more about creating a particular type of society than about embracing exceptional, transcendent, moral ideals. To do this, the chapter first shows how a functionalist perspective on religion and morality lets us better see their tangible social impact. Second, it discusses how “hypocrisy” is a common feature of all social groups, religions included. Finally, it explores how much of the legacy of religious (and specifically evangelical) rhetoric in American public speech is read by the public as a seemingly “neutral” moral position, but one that endorses specific types of power. To exemplify the impact of religious speech in a sex scandal, a case study compares the scandals of Mark Foley and Roy Moore.

Scandal

Chapter 1 examines the concept of sex scandals as they are commonly treated in current scholarship. The two most dominant models view them as (a) moments of social harm caused by a leader’s moral failure (case studies include the scandals of Larry Craig, David Petraeus, and John Edwards); or (b) violations of social norms regarding gender, race, and class (as exemplified by Bill Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky scandal). Yet the chapter’s main case study is Donald Trump. Trump’s white, sexual persona boosted his political appeal and impacted his rhetoric in the 2016 campaign, particularly in his gendered and sexed speech regarding Hillary Clinton. In light of Trump, a third model is proposed that understands sex scandals as specifically nationalist events that draw on the aforementioned identity categories of gender, race, and sexual orientation in determining who can be considered a national icon.

Introduction

The introduction provides an overview of the larger argument that sex scandals are moments of cultural theater wherein Americans punish some politicians in the name of moral correctness while ignoring the sexual indiscretions of others, all to promote a certain collective fantasy about who represents the American ideal. This contradiction depends on a double standard of masculinity promoted in evangelical rhetoric and popularized throughout American culture, one that lauds white heterosexual monogamy, on the one hand, and expects male sexual conquest and dominance, on the other. In preparation for the rest of the book, this chapter provides a discussion of technical terms such as “liberal,” “conservative,” and “evangelical,” and explains the rhetorical, feminist, and critical methods that underpin the analysis. It also discusses issues of historical context, such as the “Me Too” movement and the 2016 election. Noteworthy politicians included in this chapter are Donald Trump and Robert Bentley.

Epilogue

This chapter examines how the Supreme Court confirmation process of Justice Brett Kavanaugh closely followed a white male heterosexual double standard that is often at the center of political sex scandals, one inspired by the evangelical norms that this book has discussed. Kavanaugh was the 2018 Supreme Court nominee (and current Justice) accused by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford of a sexual assault. The chapter analyzes the Ford/Kavanaugh testimonies in relationship to the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas case. This comparison highlights the racial and gendered mechanics by which all four characters were judged. While Ford was regarded by many as a credible witness from the standpoint of her demeanor and testimony, the author argues that Kavanaugh was able to draw on a variety of raced and gendered symbols that solidified the support of his political peers, including Donald Trump. In short, Kavanaugh’s demeanor as a white, angry, sexualized adolescent granted him a considerable advantage.