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A sex scandal is a scandal involving allegations or information about embarrassing sexual activities, such as adultery, being made public. Sex scandals are often associated with movie stars, politicians, or others in the public eye, and become scandals largely because of the prominence of the person involved.

Sex scandals involving politicians can become political scandals, particularly when there is an attempt at a cover-up, or suspicions of illegality.

Introduction

The sexual relationships of public figures may be titillating without becoming scandalous. The line as to what constitutes scandalous behavior, indeed, varies among regions and backgrounds. Behavior that would be acceptable or even envied among the Hollywood glitterati, or among college students on break, likely would be completely intolerable in a conservative religious community.

As an example, in April 2007, the Hollywood actor Richard Gere caused an unintended row in India when he publicly hugged and kissed Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty at an AIDS awareness event in Delhi. An Indian judge issued a warrant for Gere’s arrest, and a small number of right-wing demonstrators burned the actor in effigy There was absolutely no sex involved, but such public displays of affection are taboo to conservative Hindus and Muslims, who see them as akin to sexual groping and therefore obscene.

There has been rapid change in the last 50 years in tolerance of sexual relationships and activities, especially since the invention of the birth control pill and the “Sexual Revolution” of the 1960s and 1970s in the industrialized world. Divorce, which used to be taboo in many societies, is now much more widely accepted. Unmarried cohabitation is also widely accepted in the West today, and premarital sexual experience is assumed, and among some people even encouraged to assure compatibility before marriage. Homosexuality is also increasingly accepted in much of the world, with some jurisdictions in Europe and North America, and scattered locations elsewhere, offering legal recognition and protection to same-sex couples.

Criteria for a Scandal

There are several factors, therefore, in elevating sexual revelations from merely titillating or distasteful (depending on one’s point of view) to being scandalous. The greater the number of these elements that are present, the greater the scandal is likely to be, and the less likely one is to have it forgiven and forgotten without serious personal consequences:

o Arrest: Being taken into police custody for one’s actual, attempted, or proposed sexual conduct.

o Blackmail: Especially for politicians and business leaders, affairs that could leave one open to extortion.

o Cover-ups and abuses of power: Political, religious, and other leaders using their authority to prevent disclosure of misdeeds, intimidate others into silence or into dropping their inquiries, and the like.

o Degrading behavior: Either the act itself (coprophilia, extreme sadomasochism, etc.), or where it takes place (public restrooms and the like).

o Homosexuality or bisexuality: To some people, homosexuality itself is still viewed as an immoral “choice” and/or an undesirable cultural import, despite all scientific evidence to the contrary. To others, it is scandalous only when the homosexuality or bisexuality has been deliberately concealed or denied for reasons unrelated to personal privacy—for instance, when it evidences hypocrisy.

o Hypocrisy: Acting at odds with one’s stated public positions, and/or one’s legal or religious demands of others.

o Infidelity: Cheating on one’s spouse or partner where there is an expectation of monogamy.

o Lying to the public: There is a perceived difference between discretion and telling white lies to protect the feelings of one’s family over an illicit affair, and untenable lies and denial when confronted publicly with hard evidence of one’s conduct.

o Nepotism, or other misuse of one’s position: Use of one’s position to provide unearned jobs, promotions, raises, contracts, favorable regulatory decisions, and the like to one’s romantic or sexual partners.

o Perjury: Lying under oath to avoid legal liability or public embarrassment.

o Promiscuity: Having so many sexual partners, of such indiscrimiate character, as to reflect poorly on one’s judgment and discretion.

o Prostitution: Using or soliciting sex workers, or being a sex worker oneself. Exchanging sex for money, regardless of its prevalence, is still viewed as a social taboo.

o Recklessness: Exposing oneself or others to physical danger or public humiliation, or endangering one’s career, position, financial standing, and important personal relationships.

o Sexual harassment: Use of one’s position of power to obtain sexual favors, or to deny benefits to, or place burdens on, those who refuse sexual favors.

o Sexual violence: Rape and incest are obvious; but this can also include extreme forms of consensual “leather” sex that the public finds disturbing and degrading.

o Underage partners: Sex by adults with minors is almost universally condemned.

o Lack of remorse: Whatever the scandalous behavior may be, those caught in a sex scandal are expected to be contrite and penitent, at least in public. Those who instead are defiant and unremorseful, or who issue “non-apology apologies,” usually are viewed even more harshly than when the scandal broke, and forgiving and forgetting the sex scandal is unlikely to occur.

See also

• Casting couch
• Moral panic
• Sexual deviancy
• Sensationalism
• Junk food news
• Deviancy amplification spiral
• Mass media

References

• Human sexuality
• Sex scandals