It's been a big week for high-profile sex scandals. And in the cases of both Arnold Schwarzenegger's love child and former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's sexual assault charges, the leading role is played by a man — as usual. Why is that? asks Lane Wallace in The Atlantic. Sure, there are fewer women in lofty positions, but they're still statistically underrepresented in sex scandals. To understand why heavy-hitter women don't engage in scandalous affairs, consider the complicated dynamics of sex and power. Not only are powerful men often thought of as sexier (while powerful women typically are not), says Wallace, but men also see sex as "a way of reassuring themselves about their hold on that power." Here, an excerpt:
The link [between sex and power] undoubtedly dates back to the days of conquering, raping and pillaging all being lumped together in the spoils of warrior combat. Win the battle, gain the power, and take the sex you want. That's not acceptable in today's more civilized society, of course, but a piece of it endures and surfaces more often than we'd like to admit....
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