Female Senators Say Women Politicians Have Fewer Affairs Because They’re Too Busy Doing Their Jobs

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NPR Senior News Analyst Cokie Roberts recently moderated a panel discussion with women serving in the U.S. Senate “about how they differ from their male counterparts.” Specifically, Roberts asked the senators — including Texas Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison and New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand — about why there are fewer scandalous affairs involving women in public life:

Q: So is Sen. Hutchison right? Are women more focused on their jobs — at least the women politicians you’ve covered?

ROBERTS: Let’s put it this way, we don’t see a lot of scandals among women. And her point — oh my lord, you try to keep the kids straight and the job straight, and get back and forth between houses. And of course, she is a Republican woman from Texas, who —

She actually, interesting Michelle — as a senator, and now she is in her mid- to late-60s, adopted two little children, who are really young enough to be her grandchildren. So this was a new balancing act for her to have these children.

But she was echoed by Kirsten Gillibrand, the young senator from New York, who has an 18-month-old baby and others. And Sen. Gillibrand says, “You’re in the middle of diapers and bottles and bills and votes and markups, how could you possibly think about doing anything else?” They’re joking on the one hand, but on the other hand they’re not. They take care of their families and take care of business.

Roberts also commented on Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace’s recent comments that he was hoping former Alaska governor — and fellow Fox News contributor — Sarah Palin would sit on his lap during their interview on his show. Roberts said his remarks were “appalling.” “You know, it’s the last place that men feel that they can just make jokes,” she said. “They would never make such jokes about a minority, you’d be in terrible trouble. But you can still make sexist jokes about women and get away with it.”

Listen here: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/03/31/female-senators-affairs/

In reaction to South Carolina Mark Sanford’s (R) extramarital affair last year, former Bush press secretary Dana Perino said the answer was to “lect more women. No woman I know has the time for such trysts, nor do I know any who say the desire one. They’re too busy trying to keep all the plates spinning at home, at work, and at the gym to make sure none fall and break.”

[CBGLuthier]

1. I think it is because

women are drawn to men with power whereas men are afraid of women with power.

I really doubt it is because they work too hard.

[Lerkfish]

2. hadn't thought of it that way, but you make a good point

[LiberalLoner]

3. Might also be because most female Senators are in their 50's or older, and rop

I don't know if other women are like me (I'm probably going to get flamed here) but now that I'm pushing 50 and going through menopause, my sex drive has completely vanished. There are physical changes that have happened to me that are undeniable and this isn't something we talk about comfortably in our society, but I really wonder if other women experience what I've experienced with aging.

[Warpy]

9. My sex drive got stuck in neutral when I hit 50

and I honestly don't miss it any more. The compensation of being able to thumb my nose at the fertility aisle in the supermarket is too great.

In any case, even if a woman over 50 has a strong sex drive, she soon finds out she's going to remind most men her age and older of their mothers and dates are going to be few and far between. Marriage generally means a man is looking for a nurse or a purse, preferably a combination.

That's why female Congresscritters aren't out there boozing it up and having affairs. They've entered into the last period of a woman's life and the men are all out chasing sweet young things, pretending they haven't.

[LiberalLoner]

16. Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone in the changes. rop

sometimes I just want so badly to ask other women my age or older, "did you go through this, is this normal?" But there are so many things we just can't talk about in normal society.

[mainer]

18. And I thought there was something wrong with me

glad to know I'm not alone.

[maxsolomon]

19. thanks for the info - it confirms my suspicions

mrs. solomon just went through menopause and i was thinking that's why i never get laid anymore. i have to cajole & beg.

too bad i'm nowhere close to MANopause!

[Warpy]

20. You are SO not alone

All my friends were hippie dippies back in the day so they all let it all hang out and we do talk about such things. It seems what we've gone through is entirely normal. While testosterone can rekindle a dead sex drive in women, the side effects are usually unacceptable.

It's a lot better just to thumb our noses at the fertility aisle in the supermarket and look condescendingly at our male cohorts chasing young tail they're never going to catch.

[Captain Hilts]

6. Yes. That's part of it. Men associate women with power with their elementary school teachers. nt

[MattBaggins]

4. REVERSE SEXISM

[UTUSN]

13. Sexism is sexism, no "reverse" in it. Goes to show women are equally capable of saying dumb things.

The dumb male equivalent would be to say, "Men have more free time (to get into trouble) because they can grasp the job in half the time."

But why is it not surprising that Kookie ROBERTS is involved in this?!1

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

5. Terrible wording. "Fewer affairs", meaning that they do have them.

[old mark]

7. Judging by Slaughter and Pelosi, I think we should vote for ALL WOMEN

in the next few elections... Competent Democratic women, of course.

mark

[hayu_lol]

8. Lessee...there was that woman politician from Idaho...

who supposedly carried on affairs with every member of the Idaho state legislature--forget her name but I bet someone here will remember it. She really did the job for all her gender in politics.

On the whole, women are more used to just getting the job done. They don't have to posture(there are exceptions)and they don't necessarily seek out photo ops. Prime examples might be: Barbara Jordan, Shirley Chisholm, and a few others--they just worked hard to do a decent job.

Hard to put Bella in this category--she excelled the men folk at photo ops and the like.

Overall, you get a more honest rep or senator by electing women. In any case, the men have failed miserably over the past few years.

****Thanks Trackfan, Helen Chenowith is the 'lady.'

[trackfan]

15. Helen Chenoweth?

or something like that.

[BlooInBloo]

10. Riiiiiiight.

:rofl:

[Berry Cool]

11. So, women in politics don't have time for affairs, because in addition to their jobs

they are also expected to be the primary caregivers for their children, while all their husbands have to do is hold down their jobs? Nice.

Looks like the double standard is still in place...if you want to have a career and be a mother, you will be expected to juggle your job with "diapers and bottles." If you want to have a career and be a father, no worries...just have your career, and leave the brunt of the parenting to your wife.

We sure have come a long way...not.

Edited to add: Oh, and let's not forget the gym. Because, ladies, even though you're already running around like a headless chicken trying to keep your job and take care of your kids, God forbid you should ever get fat!

[BlooInBloo]

12. Then in theory, an experiment comparing male senators with no-children female senators is wanted.

[rcrush]

14. Obviously we need to elect some Cougars.

This will make the news more interesting!

[LeftishBrit]

17. More, I would say, that many men are put off by ambitious and successful women

[unc70]

21. Can't say about DC, in states women seem involved in their share of affairs

In almost every state, those around the elected officials and staffs know of many cases of powerful women who are also capable of having affairs. They are probably more discrete, on the whole, than many of the men and might be less likely to be falling down drunk in the process.

Of course, women got a late start at all this, with few achieving office until fairly recently.

A really interesting example here in NC was Chief Justice Susie Sharp (an elected office in this state). Not until the publication of her biography, "Without Precedent", a dozen years after her death did the public discover that she had a series of affairs with mostly married attorneys and judges during her career, the last one with another NC Supreme Court justice.

In the general population, roughly two thirds of men and roughly 60% of women have at least one affair. We should assume until proven otherwise that the numbers should be similar for our elected officials.

[rucky]

22. Is this why Palin quit?

[B Calm]

23. Can we say Helen Chenoweth?