Christine O’Donnell: Let’s Leave Her Personal Life Alone, OK?

October 29, 2010 3:00 pm     Posted in Reality  Ashley Lee g+ page

To all of you ladies who are ready to stomp sidewalks this weekend in lingerie and some form of animal ears, good luck with the Halloween hookups and hangovers. But keep in mind, it apparently only takes one anonymous guy’s cocky locker room talk to contaminate a woman’s career path, and there’s nothing any of us can do to prevent it from happening to us in the future.


By Ashley Lee

Earlier this week, a man came forward to Gawker and revealed an encounter (of the hookup variety) with Christine O’Donnell, the female Republican candidate running for Delaware senator against Democrat Chris Coons. O’Donnell’s Communications Director Doug Sachtleben has classified the publicized morning-after-story as “just another example of the sexism and slander that female candidates are forced to deal with.” And we here at CollegeCandy, who have been collecting the best morning after stories for years, couldn’t agree more.

The entire situation is all “he said, she said” at this point (well, more like “some anonymous guy says and she refuses to say”), but who seriously cares? They (allegedly) hooked up three years ago, long before Ms. O’Donnell was a candidate in this very race. Does this encounter say something about O’Donnell’s ability to lead? Is this story pertinent to the election at all or is it only “news” because it bashes a female candidate in a sexually explicit way?

Think about it: we never hear about male a candidate’s sexual history unless it’s particularly lurid or involves a cigar vulgar, yet Christine O’Donnell’s somewhat innocent one night stand is splashed all over the media.

The woman got a little one random night – she didn’t have a secret baby with a KKK member, for God’s sake.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) condemned Gawker for publishing an anonymous account, stating that it failed to accomplish anything related to the election besides mock O’Donnell’s failed hook-up. NOW president Terry O’Neill responded, “NOW repudiates Gawker’s decision to run this piece. It operates as public sexual harassment. And like all sexual harassment, it targets not only O’Donnell, but all women contemplating stepping into the public sphere.”

And in 2010, with Smartphones, social media and the deadly combination of the two – we’re all in the public sphere, whether we decide to go into politics or not.  (And for all you potential politicians, don’t think you’re safe once you’re married, either – the press will still get you for fooling around with your own husband!)

O’Donnell wasn’t a political figure at the time of this event, she was a regular woman just like the rest of us. And, also like the rest of us (OK, many of us), she wanted to get some. So what? Should that matter now, three years later, as she runs for political office? Should one night of (failed) passion undermine her election? Should we even be talking about this?

No.

Whether or not we support O’Donnell’s political agenda, let’s keep her personal life out of it. If not for the sanctity of politics in this country, at least for the sake of gender equality and the futures of rest of us who have our own sexual skeletons in the closet.

11 Comments on "Christine O’Donnell: Let’s Leave Her Personal Life Alone, OK?"

  1. Mo says:
    Fri, 29th Oct 20105:27 pm 

    99% of the time, I would agree with the author of this article completely. In this case, however, I'm with Seattle Stranger columnist Dan Savage. You can read his post about O'Donnell at http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/10… . It's a great post, and (in my opinion) a fair point. And hey, on the plus side, we finally have some idea of what's actually hiding in O'Donnell's bush – definitely something more interesting than her political opponents.

  2. paula says:
    Sat, 30th Oct 201011:53 pm 

    @Mo – i think we know what's been hiding in her bush. ZING!

  3. Katelyn says:
    Sun, 31st Oct 20104:29 am 

    Now there are reports saying that this man was paid to come forward with this story and that there is a great possibility that it isn't true.

  4. Kar says:
    Sun, 31st Oct 20101:56 pm 

    I feel like the guy is most likely what Katelyn said – paid to say something scandalous. It doesn't make me like O'Donnell any more than before though (hint: which was none).

  5. Lindsey says:
    Tue, 2nd Nov 201010:36 am 

    UHHH, Ashley…do you know ANYTHING about the campaign Christine O'Donnell is running? Do you know WHY people are making a big fuss over her one night stand? It's because she claims she is this super chaste, angelic, christian woman who condemns sexuality,and says that she believes, through abstinence only classes, that kids will choose not to have pre-marital sex. In other words, she is pushing her christian ideals on everyone else while she's in the government, and that is not okay.

    So, when we find out that she is promiscuous, her image is tarnished and shits gonna understandably hit the fan.

    Your article= weak attempt at playing with the whole "slut/stud" stereotype. Next time, do your research a little better before you write a piece.

  6. molly says:
    Tue, 2nd Nov 20109:03 pm 

    Normally, I would agree with you, I don't think that a person's previous life should be called into play in political office. That Bill Clinton smoked pot had nothing to do with his presidency. BUT if he had tried to write laws concerning marajuana, that would be different..

    This woman's personal life is not being brought to light because she's a woman, it's because she is batshit crazy and trying to run our country.

    ANDDDD I quote:

    "You can't masturbate without lust." / "I'm a young woman in my thirties and I remain chaste."

    "American scientific companies are cross-breeding humans and animals and coming up with mice with fully functioning human brains."

    "We took the Bible and prayer out of public schools. Now we're having weekly shootings. We had the 60s sexual revolution, and now people are dying of AIDS."

    "I dabbled into witchcraft. I never joined a coven." / "One of my first dates with a witch was on a satanic altar."

    "I consider myself an authentic feminist. Not as defined by the modern movement. And, let me clarify that a little bit more. I was an English major, so break it down: -ist means one who celebrates. As a feminist, I celebrate my femininity"

    "If I were in that situation [hiding Jews from the Nazis, and conflicted about whether to tell a lie in order to save them] … God would provide a way to do the right thing."

    So…if this woman is preaching all this nonsense to people (and she just got ELECTED people!) she damn better well at least practice it. Gah this country….

  7. molly says:
    Wed, 3rd Nov 20109:24 am 

    *she did not get elected, my mistake!

  8. Star says:
    Fri, 5th Nov 20109:07 pm 

    I agree with this. While she does claim to be such an innocent saint, I feel this story would have been brought up about any woman regardless of whether they claimed to be "innocent" or not. That's what happens when female politicians try to run. People dig up dirty history that hurts them and for women, sexual encounters are frowned upon. The double standard is not deserved.

  9. Ani says:
    Sun, 7th Nov 201010:18 pm 

    Her personal life becomes our business when she runs a platform in direct contradiction to her actions. Especially when that platform intends to interfere with OTHER people's personal lives. It's not about gossip so much as the need to point out her hypocrisy.

  10. wangli123 says:
    Fri, 22nd Jul 20111:36 am 

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