Weinergate

Cybersex is very much in the news lately.

I don’t only refer to the couple in Cordova who was arrested in the act of peddling their own children for sex in the Internet, but also to a U.S. lawmaker who is caught in the eye of a political storm after engaging in cyber sexual flirtation.

New York Cong. Anthony Weiner is 46 years old and is married to a close aide of U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton. He is a popular legislator having strung seven terms in office as a Democrat. Weiner and his wife fit the box reserved for celebrity couples because they’re young, successful and wealthy and move around with high-profile politicians like the Clintons.

New Yorkers and the Dems are quite impressed by the bony and curly-haired politician and consider him a main contender for New York’s mayoralty elections in 2013, except that something happened last May 27.

On that day, Weiner sent a link on Twitter showing his genitalia covered by gray boxer shorts to a woman who earlier commented “hottt” on his Twitter account. He first denied that he posted the image and claimed that it was all done by a hacker. However, a conservative blogger unmasked him by posting more of Weiner’s indecent pictures that he sent to other women.

The blogger was joined in the fray by shock jocks or disc jockeys with a flair for sensational reporting. Their anti-Weiner tirades immediately leaked to mainstream news outlets. YouTube and social networks eventually pushing the embattled congressman to make a public confession. In a press conference, Weiner admitted having engaged in indecent conversations online and over the phone with six women for many years but denied having any physical relationship with any of them.

Despite pressure for Weiner to resign, first from the Republicans and lately from his fellow Democrats, he is not about to let go of his position. He is de malas in the sense that the U.S. political machine is gearing up for next year’s presidential elections. Because the scandal can potentially damage the Democrats in 2012, many are betting that the politician will step down.

Tons of online reactions streamed through the Internet and one that caught my attention is, in the words of the commentator, the hypocrisy of American society each time sexual scandals hog the headlines.

The sum of the online comment is: Why the righteous indignation? It is liberal thinking about pornography that helped shape a culture to embrace smut.
In the United States in the ’60s, feeble resistance to pornography was further weakened because of a strong lobby that pushed for the subliminal acceptance of pornographic material. That paved the way for Playboy magazine to be sold in newsstands together with mainstream newspapers including Reader’s Digest. It has been more than 50 years and while some economies teeter on the verge of bankruptcy, pornography is raking in $17 billion in annual profits.

Cyber flirtation and sharing of lewd photos that lead to sexual arousal is another definition of cybersex or sex in the Internet. According to reports, this is rampant in chat rooms and some people think that because it happens in a virtual state, in private between two people, sometimes with Internet guests watching, the government should not intervene.

This maybe the thinking of the cybersex couple in Cordova, tungod kay wa hilabti ang mga bata og diha ra kutob sa computer nahitabo (no physical contact with the children, everything happened in the computer).

I’m not a social scientist but when people exist side by side with customs that assault the values of decency, it is a sign of society’s moral decay.
It’s good to know that Cebu City Councilor Edgardo Labella and Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale are making the steps to address the problem. However, our officials cannot do it alone. Families, professionals and Church people should close ranks with government in looking for an integrated approach to the problem.