Humiliated for sexting once, UW expert explains why Anthony Weiner did it again
Jul 23, 2013, 6:14 PM | Updated: Jul 24, 2013, 9:12 am
(Photo: Kathy Willens, AP)
New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, who resigned from Congress in 2011 after a sexting scandal, now admits that he didn’t stop sending pictures of his naked body parts after he left office in disgrace.
A gossip website published raunchy texts and explicit photos it said were from 2012 sent and posted from the alias Carlos Danger.
In a news conference – with his wife Huma Abedin by his side again – he apologized again.
The question is, why did he do it again?
“Never underestimate an erotic charge,” says Pepper Schwartz, PhD, sociology professor at the University of Washington and author of several books about sexuality.
“It’s a fetish,” she says. “Just like a naked guy wearing a raincoat who opens it in front of someone, flashes, and then runs away. It’s a big sexual charge for them.”
Weiner stepped down from Congress two years ago after admitting that he had texted lewd pictures of himself to women, reversing previous denials.
Schwartz says Weiner’s sexuality is “all messed up,” because he wants to be seductive with young women he has no intention of meeting.
While men get turned on from sending pictures of their private parts, women usually don’t get the same “erotic charge” from receiving or sending photos.
Young women especially think of the pics as being a part of a relationship with someone. The photos aren’t the thrill for females, the relationship is.
The website that posted photos and screenshots of graphic conversations between Weiner and an unnamed 22-year-old, says the two met on the social-networking site Formspring in July 2012.
One thing that makes Formspring different from other social sites is that users can follow others privately.
Weiner allegedly sent the young woman lewd photos, had phone sex with her, and promised her a job and a condo.
The woman was quoted as saying, “I thought I loved him. Pretty pathetic.”
Her hopes of having a relationship with someone were quite different from his intentions.
“Weiner lied about who he is, makes promises he knows he will never fulfill and shows his body parts which he imagines are particularly admirable,” says Schwartz. “It’s all a part of the “world of sexuality that has a dark side.”
She says he has a “willfully stupid” side.
In May of this year, Weiner entered the race for New York City mayor with the support of his wife. The couple now have an 18-month-old son.
Weiner says despite the new controversy, he is not quitting the mayor’s race.
“The fact that he did it again after his public humiliation means he still thinks he can outsmart the system. Weiner thought he could take an anonymous name and continue getting a charge from this,” Schwartz says.
“Shame and humiliation from his wife and the public didn’t stop him before. He would and will probably do it again.”
By LINDA THOMAS
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