Should Tiger Woods' Infidelities Matter to the American Public?
Does the fact that Tiger Woods cheated on his wife with prostitutes and porn stars affect your marriage? I sincerely doubt it, and believe that Tiger Woods cheating on his wife has nothing to do with my family, your family, or anyone else’s family, but his own.
A male writer at the NYT disagrees. Robert Wright’s basic opinion, which he hammers repeatedly throughout his column, is that monogamous marriage matters, and therefore, Tiger Woods’ indiscretions matter to your marriage as well.
First, the writer states that monogamous marriage matters because the alternative would be divorce and single parent families.
While I understand that monogamy is non-negotiable for many couples, including many married couples, to say that monogamy is the only option for sustaining a healthy marriage is a fallacy. This is the 21st century and many families have opted for alternatives to monogamy which do not involve the children. I am not recommending it, but it is a reality that many couples stay together for the children, and allow compromises they may not otherwise agree upon. In this case, trust is the most important criteria for a successful marriage. Divorce is not the only alternative.
I do agree without question that divorce hurts children in most instances, but less couples are having children than in the past. This means that some marriages are between two people only, and not an entire family, which means there are more options available for divorce or open relationships.
His next point is that role models matter, especially in low-income neighborhoods.
First, I doubt that most relationships in low-income neighborhoods end because of infidelity as both crime and violence towards women is higher in low-income neighborhoods.
Secondly, Tiger Woods is an athlete first and foremost. By over-emphasizing Tiger Woods’ wrongs off of the golf course, the media is actually taking away Tiger Woods’ successes as an athlete. You can say many things about Tiger Woods’ and his life that are negative, but his discipline on the golf course and athleticism could also be used to teach wayward youths discipline in another way and give them something to aim for.
The writer then continues into an interesting account of the morality of Tiger’s actions and why moral sanctions matter.
I won’t take him on for this because I think he raises some interesting points.
I would, however, like to say that Tiger Woods was overly-sanctioned through loss of face, loss of sponsorships, and money. The only person I believe has the right to sanction Tiger Woods for his actions is his wife. Despite our love affair with Tiger Woods, he did not marry the American public, he married his wife.
