The Man Gene: Wired for Infidelity

In case you don’t keep up with Tennessee politics, 47-year-old State Senator Paul Stanley, the married father of two, recently admitted to having a sexual relationship with a 22-year-old female intern. Both he and the intern say the relationship was consensual. Everything was going fine until the intern’s boyfriend found out about it and tried to blackmail the senator for $10,000. The senator went to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. A sting was arranged. The boyfriend was arrested. The matter became public.

In an article by Andy Sher in the Chattanooga Times Free Press, he quotes a former president of the American Psychological Association as saying that politicians are wired for infidelity. “[Politicians have] very high levels of risk, uncertainty, novelty, variety, intensity . . . . Put that together with opportunities for sex. . . [and] it’s surprising we don’t see it more often.”

A political science professor is quoted as saying the reason these shenanigans seem more prevalent now is that the media and all sorts of pseudo-media on the Internet cover these indiscretions like the dew covers Dixie. He then wades into psychiatric or medical territory by adding, “I do think there is something in the genetic makeup of politicians that encourages this type of behavior.”

Nonsense! Politicians aren’t wired for infidelity. It’s The Man Gene that’s wired. The Man Gene is in every man. Male politicians who go astray are likely to receive more media attention, but do you really think male politicians are more wired — or infected — than, say, male psychiatrists, medical doctors, college professors, lawyers, investment bankers, executives, supervisors, plumbers, construction workers, or tennis pros?

The Man Gene envelopes every area of work, which is one reason the workplace can become so licentious and employment law so complicated. Politicians get the press, but don’t give them all the credit or blame for The Man Gene’s mischief.