TheLoop21.com

By: devona walker (follow this member)
Wed, 12/16/2009 - 14:46

Oh, Tiger. This guy can't catch a break, not from Black America or White America.

Back on Thanksgiving the brother was clearly trying to flee his abusive blonde wife when he wrecked his Cadillac SUV and messed up his pretty, philandering face. But instead of anyone questioning exactly what the Swiss-born Elin was doing with his 8-iron, all conversations and news reports turned to him: What the hell did he do to deserve it?

I just want to quote a few of my feminist friends here: There's no excuse for domestic violence. The fact that he couldn't keep it in his pants not withstanding. There simply is no excuse.

We are in week three or four of the scandal. Woods has lost at least two major advertisers. The flak he's received is so tireless, the brother has even taken an undetermined leave of absence from the sport. His wife is leaving him, after settling for an undisclosed amount of money to keep her mouth shut about his adultery. A parade of women are coming out of the woodwork, and they will all be paid off handsomely for keeping their mouths shut. 

No one, not even black folks, have any sympathy for him. I think his choice in women and the fact that he hasn't exactly embraced his black heritage has clouded  many judgments. White folks are just writing him off as another "black male sexual predator."

But is he really the predator here?

All these women, the cocktail waitresses, the party promoters, his wife -- who was a nanny when they met -- what is the common denominator except their race and hair color? They are all getting paid. I think if the walls could talk at places like the playboy mansion, you might find that this is a pretty useful strategy for the bikini crowd: Marry an athlete, wait for him to cheat, then take his black ass to the cleaners!

Honestly, I don't understand why everyone is hating on Tiger. Why are we suppose to feel sympathy for all these women who were apparently misled, led on, or whatever by a married man? And why, in the world of celebrity, are we so surprised? I don't hate Tiger. On the contrary, I feel sorry for the brother. If he walks away broke because of this mess? Well, then, that will be a legitimate cause for outrage. 

Fake and convenient American puritanism

When it comes to marital infidelity, we all (about 90 percent of married folks) disapprove of it, but about one-forth of married men and one-sixth of all married women in the U.S. are themselves guilty of it. According to a study called the  Monogamy Myth, an estimated 60 percent of husbands and 40 percent of wives will have an affair at some point during their marriage.

My conclusion: It ain't that Tiger cheated on his wife. It's that Tiger (whose race has been as elusive for whites as it has been for blacks) cheated on his white wife with a litany of white women.

If he had chosen, let's say, a darker vintage of mistresses would the entire black community be screaming, 'he ain't never been one of us, so don't try to make him black now'? If he had been a white celebrity would White America be so enthralled by his infidelities? 

Remember  David Duchovny? You know the cute, UFO-obsessed guy on the X files. Well that guy, much like Tiger, suffered from a serious sex addiction. His wife, Tea Leoni, a wonderful comedic actress, stood by him as long as she could. But after catching him in his upteenth tawdry sexscapade, it was quietly reported that he was entering treatment for a sexual addiction and she was divorcing him. Was he shunned by Hollywood? On the contrary, HBO seemingly built a show around his sexual bravado in Californication.

And what about David Letterman? He announced his sexual indiscretions on his late-night show (all we know about his indiscretions is that there were multiple women and they apparently worked for him on the show), and the studio audience actually laughed. The media tried to spin some legs on that story, but no one gave a crap, so they dropped the whole thing.

Call me cynical but I guess I kind of assumed that infidelity came with the role of being a trophy wife to a professional athlete. You get the house, the bling, the convertible and the nanny, and he gets his "liberties" when on the road. If you put every professional athlete in one room, how many faithful husbands could you find? Half a dozen?

I think Tiger's real sin is thinking he could exist in the racial netherworld. During the good times, it was alright, probably even liberating, not to have to wear that whole slavery thing around like an albatross. But as soon as you hit a rough patch, there can't be a much lonelier place to be in the entire world -- no comfort to be found in either black or White America. But I suppose Tiger's probably use to that by now.