Tiger Woods’ marriage is the latest casualty of a car accident, and the rumors surrounding the circumstances. For specific details of the accident and his injuries, click here. Modern Love is more focused on the salacious innuendos, the power of sex, the sexiness of power, and the irony of a rescue by golf club. Tiger’s wood, if you will (Oh, please don’t pretend you haven’t heard that one before).
Whether or not the accident is connected to rumors that Tiger Woods is having an affair isn’t proven, nor is it the point of this column. What Modern Love wants to know is this: can public citizens ever have private lives? Sustaining and nurturing a marriage is difficult enough without the lens of the paparazzi capturing every move. In their scope (or should I write scoop?), every wart, every flaw, every hint of impropriety becomes consumables for a hungry audience. Am I the only one who thinks we've been eating a lot of junk food lately?
It's easy to gorge on this stuff. Knowing that our favorite celebrities, elected officials, and grossly overpaid athletes and entertainers have ordinary lives gives us a false sense of kinship with this gloried crowd. “Oh, Tiger is having marital challengers too? Well, if the world’s greatest golfer can have a sweetie on the side, why can’t I?” Not that Modern Love is at all implying that those rumors of infidelity are true – the sources are suspect, and I haven’t seen any proof.
On the other hand, that same looking outward into the inner world of other people’s problems means we can avoid facing our own burdened lives. Modern Love suspects this is one reason why reports suggest that 85% of marriages are harmed by some form of infidelity (real, imaginery, emotional, with a doll, etc). I fully understand the allure. The pages of those magazines and the lifestyles of the rich and famous seem so much easier than the 9-to-5 grind of work, life, family and responsibility.
Power is sexy, certainly more so than balancing a household budget. So is indispensible wealth, especially when worn by a man like Tiger, talented, attractive, and committed to his purpose and craft. It is hard to stay married, and hard to resist temptation, when you are a celebrity with so much of everything we are conditioned to covet.
Power, money, and sex appeal don't buy happiness. The research is pretty clear on that. Celebrity status and beauty don’t guarantee it either. Tiger and his wife are living proof. Just in case they need a reminder, below is a slideshow of Tiger and Elin's happier times.
Related reading:
Other woman, Rachel Uchitel, in Tiger Woods' scandal is a stunner
Follow me on twitter: ModernLoveWritr. Send email questions/comments to tmbsdre@yahoo.com.
Comments
There are reports on the Orlando Sentinel that NO glass was broken on the front windshield....so YOU do the math! IMO, the "wife did it"...LOL Oh Tiger...seriously!
Did she hit him in the face with the golf club? How did he end up going in and out of consciousness for 6 minutes? Sounds like a brain injury. Maybe some assualt charges are pending?
When celebs have affairs and their marriages fail it is pretty convenient to blame it on the very media that makes them a well known celeb.
Try this scenario. The Natl Enquirer article says that it was Rachel who was bragging about the affair and that when she said to Tiger, "you have a wife and two children" that he responded "I'll fix that".
Elin, not knowing that Rachel HAD NOT been quoted by the Enquirer, but it was someone to whom they paid $25,000, whom Rachel had only met twice, believing it to be true, attacks Tiger and scratches his face. He runs out of the house and gets in his car to leave, she starts smashing the rear window which distracts him and he hits the hydrant, then a tree.
He obviously didn't receive major injuries in an Escalade traveling about 20 MPH. Let's say he exits the vehicle and gets clobbered with a club. It leaves him unconscious and bleeding from the mouth and face.
Sounds reasonable to me. Rachel is already saying she will sue the National Enquirer and you can bet Tiger will. Interesting note: The Enquirer wiped the website clean of the article. No proof?????
Tinamarie asks: "Can public citizens ever have private lives?" With this EXAMINER site giving full opportunity for speculators like Mountain Man and the others to run their hypotheticals, the truth is in jeopardy. Just shut up.
All I can say is if she beat him, then Tiger is the victim here. Cheating is wrong, but beating is not good. This would be not different than what happened with Chris Brown and Rhianna. Rhianna was the victim and Tiger may also be the victim if his wife beat him.
Mountain Jack...."The Enquirer wiped the website clean of the article. No proof?????"
LOL, it is all over the print edition. Saw at the store today.
Public figures get so much wealth and power in exchange for privacy. Sorry, don't feel sorry for them one bit. Woods should know as well as any public figure that his goings on are tracked and scrutinized.
And IF it's true that he couldn't keep his wiener in his pants, then HE ruined his marriage, not the media, and his wife probably had plenty of clues, the Star report was simply confirmation.
Btw, just want to add that most people hate hypocrites, in particular those who pledge their fidelity to their spouses during religious marriage ceremonies and then so easily break those pledges later on. Tiger Woods has been marketed as a perfect golden boy. Just look at that lovely family photo! The interest in his alleged infidelity isn't so much salacious, it's simply the (desirable) result of the expectation that people behave morally.
No, public figures cannot lead private lives, hence the term "public figure". When you put yourself out there on the national, and/or international stage, every freak, nutjob and weirdo is going to want to know every single little thing about you and your family. In many ways the mere act of transforming yourself into a celebrity is reckless and irresponsible. The power, money and fame might be nice, but the side effects of that power, money and fame certainly are not. By virtue of becoming a celebrity, these people have basically made their families targets for stalkers, and the intimate details of their private lives fodder for the media... no matter how hard they try to prevent it. There's a downside to everything, and even though the upside to being a celebrity can be a thousand miles high, the downside can be about six feet under.
LEAVE HIM ALONE, AND HIS WIFE & KIDS PLEASE, IF HE'S PLAYING AROUNG THAT THERE BIS. WOMWAM NEXT TIME USE A 5 IRON ON HIS ASS
White women are the craziest when cheated on, much worse than any other ethnicity. Just ask TIGER ! Exception : Lorena Bobbitt
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