hate to say it, but i more or less agree with this, a piece by the 'president of the national fatherhood initiative' which asks why we don't alot a bit of the blame for misbehaving men to the women they misbehave with. now, of course, if it's a rapist - a la (allegedly) dsk - then blaming the victim is out of the question. also of course, power differentials create the possibilities of one or another extent of coercion, which reduces the agency of the people coerced. but no one is forcing a young woman to undergo plastic surgery, dress in as little as possible, and try to seduce tiger woods (or, you know, musicians, actors, politician, rich persons), in order to enhance her self-esteem or professional opportunities or cashflow or to achieve some sort of notoriety. i just have to say that i'm against using sex this way. and i might say i often feel kind of...sexually manipulated by women, many of whom seem to value sexual attention above nearly anything else (i'm definitely not rich or powerful, however).
power and money and fame are aphrodisiacs, i guess, at least for many women. actually i don't think they really have an aphrodisiac effect; they just suggest that you could use sex to get power and money out of this chump. anyway, if power and money have an aphrodisiac effect on you, i suggest that this is a failure of your character, and you ought to get busy in therapy or something. the world would obviously be a better place if power and money were sexually repulsive.
though some of the 'other women' are victims to one degree or another, many are really not, and the fact that we just informally don't hold the (admittedly, usually young) women responsible at all says either that they are not moral agents, or that, having sex for power or money - or to feel the flattery of power and money - is normative for young women. since what is really normative for young women is that their whole predicament is described by themselves and their sub-culture as a self-esteem drama, and getting the governor's attention and screwing him enhances your self-esteem, it's actually a wholesome activity.
