The Web Hostess: Double standard for Scott Brown?

A weekly chat about the best ways to kill time online. Our Web Hostess, Monica Hesse, sifts the Internet so you don't have to, searching for meaning, manners, and the next great meme.

This week, she discusses her story about why a man can pose naked and still be elected to the U.S. Senate.

Web Hostess chat archive.

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Monica Hesse: Afternoon, everyone, and thanks for stopping by.

Yesterday the good people of Massachusetts elected an official with a history of tawdry photos splashed all over the Internet. And the official was...a dude!

Scott Brown's nearly nude Cosmo pics were trotted out throughout the election, and the general reaction from the media and public ranged from "Meh," to "Wowsa."

How would things have looked different if this particular Internet revelation had belonged to a female candidate? Are there comparable examples? (What if said female candidate had as much hair as Brown?) Or is this -- and here I quote some reader mail -- "An inane line of questioning, Missy"?

Sick of hearing about Brown? Okay. I'd also love to hear from you today about your personal rules of digital etiquette -- from Facebook defriending to texting in public -- and your worst sightings of bad behavior. In a guide to modern etiquette, what should be absatively included?

Let's get started.

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Vernon, B.C., Canada: not a big surprise, the double standard. If he had been a Democrat, he wouldn't have won, the GOP would have slaugthered him in the media. I see a disturbing trend of voting...like after the election of a non-white President, white, straight guys are getting worried about the status quo, and aren't voting for women, of either party. Don't forget, misogyny is under the same umbrella as racism---bigotry. I predict KBH in Texas will not be the new governor. Kind of amazing how most of the so-called liberal media has not reported on how Sen. John Ensign is under investigation by the FBI, a situation where if indicted he would probably have to resign. Now if that was a woman senator, of either party, it would be 24/7 news.

Monica Hesse: Interesting question, to speculate on whether Brown's party affiliation gave him a pass. The experts I spoke with said they thought it didn't -- that a Democratic male candidate would have also done okay. They were pretty convinced, however, that a female of either party would have been labeled a bimbo for having a similar centerfold in her past.

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Woodbridge: So does anyone have access to the picture of the 22-year-old Scott Brown? (still a hunka burnin' luv)

washingtonpost.com: Here you go

Monica Hesse: These weren't secret hidden photos, by the way. Sounded like they'd been trotted out throughout Brown's career.

The quote I dearly wanted to work into the article but ultimately didn't came from Brown's mother, when she was interviewed about the photos back in 1982.

Jdy Brown said, "I think it may open a lot of doors for him." Prescient mom!

And also: "I haven't seen you like that since you were a baby."

You have to love her, right?

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Arlington, Va.: How much does personality play into this? Brown just seems so avuncular. A candidate who took himself more seriously would probably not get off as easily. (See Edwards, John -- haircut of.)

Monica Hesse: Good point. I talked with cultural critic Camille Paglia for this story. One of the things she kept coming back to was that Brown looked like a "fun guy" with a great personality -- something that she felt came through even in the nakedness.

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Iowa: I don't think there's any doubt there is a double standard in play here. The interesting question to me is which direction it is ultimately resolved. Does male modeling become a career-killer, or does it shift to where female photos become no big deal?

Monica Hesse: I kinda doubt we're moving toward a place where baring some flesh is seen as increasingly more taboo -- for any gender.

I'm interested to know precisely where the nudity line is, though. Could a female candidate withstand Maxim pictures, so long as she was covered by a bikini?

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Chicago: As someone who's job is to sit for six hours at a computer screen and periodically check-out books, I've managed to refine viral video/webcontent timewasting into a fine, genteel art. Like wine tasting or training attack dogs. That said, have you seen this??

Babelgum: Kids Reenact MTV's Hit Series "Jersey Shore"

Monica Hesse: Oh wow. On behalf of all of us, Thank you!

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Washington, DC: Monica,

I recall that Sarah Palin's early beauty pageant experience was treated as a negative, so I have no doubt that a woman who did a spread similar to Brown's would be treated harshly, no matter how good a reason she had for doing it. I think it is an example of the woman would be called a bimbo for doing it, while the man would be called a stud.

Monica Hesse: There was also a weird bimbo implication I saw in a few places that women would feel persuaded to vote for Brown simply because they found him studly -- insulting to his female supporters who liked him for substantial reasons.

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Washington, D.C.: Thanks to Facebook and Flickr, aren't we about 10-15 years away from every candidate having a history of drunken or 1/2 naked pics?

Monica Hesse: Don't all candidates already have drunken or half naked pics? The difference is that for younger people they're already online, and for older candidates they're stored in a random shoebox in a basement, waiting to be re-discvoered by an ex or roommate.

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Woburn, MA: The double standard for women or minorities and, in some places for Democrats in general, is that if a female/African-American or other minority candidate appears qualified, friendly and humble then white males will consider voting for them.

However, if they ever appear arrogant in anyway, no matter how justified, they lose the white male, and often white female vote, and sadly the vote of all the groups they are not a member of. The same goes for appearing mean, and a host of other sins that white male candidates are often forgiven for.

Monica Hesse: "Elite," the code word for all that is evil and snobbish.

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Arlington, Va.: Could a female celebrity be elected with the same kind of videography as Al Franken or Sonny Bono?

Monica Hesse: Tina Fey?

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Washington: Not to break up the Brown talk...but a friend just sent out a mass email saying that she was doing some Facebook cleaning and defriending all of us. If we wanted to be friends again, we should write and let her know. Should I? Or was this a brush off?

Monica Hesse: Do you want to be Facebook friends with her? Then you should sign on again. Think of it as less of a brush-off, and more of a check-in.

The people I know who have pruned their Facebook accounts do so because they've realized that, though they may have 400 friends, they only pay attention to 20 or 30 -- and they're worried about becoming the equivalent of status update spam to other people.

So if you enjoy reading about your friend's life, then by all means ask to be added again. If not, then consider this a reprieve from unwanted contact.

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Would you...: not vote for someone just because of a little nude modeling?

Monica Hesse: Me? Nah. I think that where it gets sticky is that people read a whole lot into that nude modeling. A few pictures can result in a lot of character assumptions -- that a person is "frivolous," "vapid," "amoral," etc. It might become hard to seperate the images from the assumptions surrounding them.

P.S. Didn't porn star Mary Carey run for governor of California? Or was that all a hazy dream?

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How to: How do I text a guy back to let him know that I don't care that he had to bail on our date? Is the use of an exclamation point to eager?

Monica Hesse: Yep. Unless you want the message to be, "I am actually very relieved that I don't have to hang out with you tonight!"

In all other cases, "No worries, another time" is better.

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New Bern, NC: Could it be that nobody would want to see Martha Coakley nude?

Monica Hesse: Martha Coakley now, or at 22?

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Denver: At the risk of disturbing the serious tone of things, I interject kids reenacting Jersey Shore, at http://www.babelgum.com/4022027/kids-reenact-mtvs-hit-series-jersey-shore.html

And if that's not enough, has the virality of "Pants on the Ground" truly received its due? I mean the original bit from Idol has propogated dozens of clones. What's up with that?

OK, back to more somber chat.

Monica Hesse: Denver, your interruption for silliness has been pre-empted by Chicago, who already introduced us to the wonder that is Kids Reenacting Jersey Shore.

As for Pants on the Ground (link to follow), I will admit to never having watched it before today. Is this what I miss by not being an Idol fan?

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Leesburg, Va.: Given that the new Senator is a Republican, I'm a little curious about the "family values" aspect of posing nude. Doesn't that count as pornography? Isn't the Palin family trying to use Johnston's nude photos as evidence he's an unfit parent? (So posing makes you unfit for child custody, but not unfit to sit in the Senate and draft laws, approve treaties, and vote on wars?) Where is the family values outrage?

washingtonpost.com: Also, how funny/odd was the whole "they're available" thing about his daughters during his acceptance speech?

Monica Hesse: See, I've heard arguments that the "Take my daughters, No seriously, take 'em!" only made him more endearing, because it was such a clueless dad thing to do.

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but a friend just sent out a mass email saying that she was doing some Facebook cleaning and defriending all of us.: Don't send her a friend request. Keep her guessing about why you didn't.

Monica Hesse: See, you think these little social networking mind games will work, but she'll probably just never notice whether she now has 600 friends or 599. It really makes passive aggression difficult.

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washingtonpost.com:

washingtonpost.com:

Monica Hesse: The daughter introduction. Paul informs me that the embarassment begins at the around the 21 second mark.

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In all other cases, "No worries, another time" is better. : Even better is "No worries." I'd be reluctant to look forward to "another time" with someone who broke a date with a text message.

Monica Hesse: Or: Cold silence, keep him guessing about why you didn't write back?

Did I get that right?

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Bethesda, MD: Wasn't there a judge (way back...her name was Bambi, I think) who was denied a seat on the federal bench becaue she used to be a Playboy bunny (not even in the magazine, just a cocktail waitress in a bunny suit at a club).

Monica Hesse: This story was ringing a bell, but all that came up in a lightening Google search was a story about Holly Madison judging the Playboy Bunny Hunt.

Anyone else remember more details?

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"insulting to his female supporters who liked him for substantial reasons. ": For God's sake, can we please stop getting insulted about something every time we turn around?

I am female. I certainly would not be insulted just because some other female voted for SB because he's hot. I would think she was an idiot. Sheesh.

Monica Hesse: I really like the mental image of finding insults waiting for me, every time I round a corner.

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Houston: to Canada's comment of "if Brown had been a Dem, he'd have been roasted by the GOP." As noted by Wash. DC, Palin was roasted for having been a beauty contestant - this by the Dems. Seems its the GOP candidates who keep getting harassed from the left for showing the flesh. As for Kay losing the Texas race - just like Croakley - it's the candidate herself - she has yet to explain why she feels she needs to run and why time in office by Perry is bad when she has been a Senator longer.

Monica Hesse: Posting...

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I think it is an example of the woman would be called a bimbo for doing it, while the man would be called a stud. : But Palin IS a bimbo. Have you ever heard her answer a question?

Monica Hesse: ...and posting...

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but she'll probably just never notice whether she now has 600 friends or 599.: Well, if she doesn't notice, you weren't really friends anyway so you wouldn't need to keep track of what boring things she's up to.

Monica Hesse: Which is why it goes back to this: If you find her boring updates interesting, then you should re-friend her without worrying that you're being an imposition. If you don't, then you've just spared yourself the inanity, and the defriending was nothing personal.

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dc: as a future candidate, while i delete all tags to my friends posting drunken pictures of me on facebook, in reality i could care less.

if youre going to judge me based on what i do in my personal time i dont want your vote and im not likely to get it anyway.

my 10 years of hill experience, law school, judicial clerkships and working as an agency attorney should say i have more policy chops then some guy who spread himself for cosmo.

washingtonpost.com: But why can't you find the Shift key?

Monica Hesse: Oh Paul. Perhaps DC is married to one of those people WHO TYPES LIKE THIS, and they are practicing uppercase conservation.

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Playboy Bunny Judge: Kimba Wood. She is a federal judge but a huge deal was made about her being a Playboy bunny (in-training). She was just one for a few days. Much ado about nothing IMHO.

washingtonpost.com: In the interest of fairness, I did a brief search for her in a bunny costume and didn't find anything. Crowd?

Monica Hesse: Yes. We should probably see the bunny costume.

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Clay Street: I'm wondering how, in this digital age, "untraditional" images of candidates might be the equivalent of 1990s pot smoking for them. Instead of "did he inhale," it becomes "did he pose all the way?" Just note, further, that folks seemed not to ask female candidates of that era about their drug use, though much of this could be due to their relative scarcity. What will be interesting will be when the Facebook generation really starts political candidacies in 15 years and all the images that will pop up then. I'm suspecting we won't much care.

Monica Hesse: Did he inhale while posing all the way?

In 15 years, we'll probably be concerned by candidate who don't have Facebook pasts. What exactly are they trying to hide?

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Pants on Colorado Ground: Sobering to hear you've missed pants on the ground. Glad to hear you've caught up.

Here is Brett Favre doing it.

Here is Jimmy Fallon dead on as Neil Young doing it

washingtonpost.com:

Monica Hesse: Paul already mocked me. He might take away my chat.

I forgot how much I can like Jimmy Fallon. And Neil Young!

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Re: Paul: You're such an elitist. You know, not everyone can afford a Shift key for their keyboard.

Monica Hesse: Next thing you know, he's going to be calling for redistribution of caps locks.

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Drunk pics: Even Katie Couric has 'em.

Best thing about FB (maybe the only good thing?) is that the current and future generations won't give a crap about candidates' dumb college decisions. We've all made them.

Monica Hesse: And then all the college kids who never drank or went to parties because they were planning on running for office are going to look at each other and go, "Well, that was a waste."

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Tina Fey's election potential: Not after that "dress" she wore to the Golden Globes.

Monica Hesse: Perhaps she should have gone naked.

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Cincinnati, Ohio: So what is wrong with having double standards? Men and women are different (thank goodness) They look at each other as being so and look at themselves differently than does the opposite sex. So why not accept reality and move on.

Monica Hesse: Well, wow.

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Double standard: Of course there's one. End of story.

On to more important questions: should Brown, Aaron Schock, and Pres. Obama engage in an abs-off? That is, post shirtless in order for voters to choose who has the best stimulus package?

Is there a qualified Supreme Court justice, so that we could get the judicial branch in on this as well?

washingtonpost.com: Wouldn't it be a stimulus six-package?

Monica Hesse: Beer summit 2010: Shirtless.

For judicial representation, I'm thinking John Roberts, yes?

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Levi Johnston's the REAL winner: Thanks to Scott Brown's old Cosmo centerfold, Levi Johnston no longer need worry about Bristol Palin's criticism of his Playgirl centerfold posing (in her attempt to wrestle his partial custody rights of their baby away from him), right?

Monica Hesse: Let's monitor this situation, and see how "He was nakeder than me" works as an argument.

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dc: because i had shoulder surgery ten days ago and am typing with one hand.

Monica Hesse: Oooh, Paullll.....

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Facebook pasts: I no longer have one; I had my account permanently deleted on New Year's. However, the pictures that I happen to be in that were uploaded by other people will still exist, and can be easily pointed out.

Monica Hesse: When I first read this post, I thought it said "Facebook Pants." Which brings together so many threads of the day.

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Hairy Brown: Was everyone that hairy on 1982? No, most were probably harier (see Reynolds, Burt). And, little secret, most still are, just denuded like a sugar cane field for public consumption. But I gotta say that when I read about Alec Baldwin having to get shaved before his in-the-buff scene in It's Complicated, I think we've gone just a little bit too far...

PS, it was Kimba Wood who was disqualified for having once hoisted the bunny ears.

Monica Hesse: Anyone out there found the a bunny picture yet?

And: Alec Baldwin was shaved and still looked like that? Grizzly.

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if youre going to judge me based on what i do in my personal time i dont want your vote and im not likely to get it anyway. : I'm going to judge you on whether what you do in your personal time is consistent with what you say you stand for. So if you run on a family values platform, but we find recent photos of you snorting coke with a bunch of porn stars I'm not going to respect you. But if it's only a bunch of photos of you drunk from your college days, I'm going to wince about how stupid you look and think of how stupid I look in drunk photos of myself.

Monica Hesse: Hypocrisy seems to be the key factor in most people's moral outrage-ometer.

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Annandale, VA: Scott Brown's daughter Ayla made it to the top 24 of American Idol?! Really?

Monica Hesse: I know! Fascinating family, and I'm sure we'll hear more about them soon.

Next week we'll be back -- same time, same place -- and barring another naked un-scandal, we'll return to our regularly scheduled time wasting.

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