The Wall Street Journal’s Cailin Flanagan writes:
“…We find ourselves this week confronted with two more stories of the particular miseries of this modern-day droit du seigneur. Arnold Schwarzenegger has admitted to having a sexual relationship with a woman who worked in his home, which resulted in the birth of a son. Meanwhile, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former head of the International Monetary Fund, faces charges of sexually assaulting a hotel chambermaid; he denies the allegations.
The storylines feel almost ancient. In Mr. Schwarzenegger's case, the woman was a member of his domestic staff for 20 years. According to widespread press reports, she, like her former employer, is an immigrant to this country, and I imagine that the very different experiences they brought to the U.S. served to foster the nasty interplay of social class, privilege and race, heightening the excitement of the affair for Mr. Schwarzenegger and ensuring that she would remain the subservient party.
Also new to this country were the New York City hotel maid and Mr. Strauss-Kahn—one an immigrant, the other a visiting foreign dignitary. The alleged victim is a mother and a devout Muslim who wears a headscarf to work, according to press reports; her lawyer has said that she and her daughter moved from Guinea seven years ago and were granted asylum.
The French people have protested Mr. Strauss-Kahn's being treated like any other sex criminal (so much for equality, fraternity and all that), tossed in Rikers Island. But then the French do not have a great history where the fair treatment of northern Africans is concerned. It's easy to imagine that his alleged use of this woman is not unrelated to her race and accent, and—more than anything else—to her lowly position as a maid.
Obviously, there is a world of difference between these two events….
Read more at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704904604576333394280112296.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_5
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