By Dennis Loo
Tiger professed love for each and every one of his mistresses, just as he now professes love for Elin today. When he told all of these other women that he loved them and that they could be together forever, told Elin and the world the same, why should anyone – his former mistresses, any of us, and most especially Elin – believe him?
But I want to focus on something else here, other than his lying and the fact that declarations of love from Tiger mean zilch: his misogyny.
I did a Google search today for “Tiger Woods” and “misogyny” thinking that I would find quite a bit. All of two articles came up. I find that remarkable. But perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised. As a culture that now worships celebrity, subjecting one of the biggest of celebrities to a genuine, substantial criticism that cuts to the heart of his oppression of women, maybe that’s too much to ask.
Most of the media coverage about Woods has been about his infidelity, the fact that all of his mistresses have been white, and his alleged sex addiction. The latter is a condition that I don’t believe even exists. When the most recent text messages were released the other day, some people have noted about them that Woods liked “rough sex.”
I’d say that it’s more than that. I’d call it misogyny.
Joslyn James, who, according to her, had a three-year affair with Woods, including two pregnancies by him, has so far released some 100 text messages between them, with more to come. Here is an excerpt:
Tiger:Sent: 04"02 PM 08/29/2009: I want to treat you rough. Throw you around, spank and slap you
Tiger:Sent: 04:06 PM 08/29/2009: ¨Slap your face. Treat you like a dirty little whore. Put my cock in your ass and then shove it down your throat
Tiger:Sent: 04:07 PM 08/29/2009: ¨You are my fucking whore
Tiger:Sent: 04:08 PM 08/29/2009: ¨Hold you down while i choke you and Fuck that ass that i own
Tiger:Sent: 04:10 PM 08/29/2009: ¨Then im going to tell you to shut the Fuck up while i slap your face and pull your hair for making noise
Tiger:Sent: 04:21 PM 08/29/2009: ¨Where do you want to be bitten
Tiger:Sent: 04:24 PM 08/29/2009:¨Ok. Now your talking. Whatever i want. You are mine
On March 25 Joslyn was interviewed on two radio shows and on WEEI with Jonn Dennis and Gerry Callahan in which she told them that the sex got rougher at times than the text messages indicated. As described at Entertainment and Showbiz: “the sex-addict golfer wrote he wanted to spank slap bit[e] and choke her, even throw her around.”
It has also been reported previously that Tiger frequented Scores, a topless club. According to the manager, Tiger would come in and play the innocent cub to strip clubs. Of course, he kept doing this over and over. Somehow he managed to remain the wide-eyed innocent through all of the repeated exposures to women being degraded in the club.
Any man who frequents strip clubs is no lover and respecter of women – obviously.
His so-called apology on February 19, 2010, complete with long, faked, pauses to show how much he meant what he was saying, has to be one of the most insincere apologies I have ever witnessed, and we are living in an age in which insincere apologies have become unfortunately routine. This week Tiger allowed an ESPN reporter to ask him any questions he wanted, as long as it lasted only five minutes. Sounds like the behavior of someone who really wants to show how contrite he is and make amends, doesn’t it?
I used to think that Tiger was one of the most amazing athletes I had ever seen. I didn’t care for his ducking any political issues, such as his refusal to use his clout to get Augusta National to change their retrograde attitude towards women, but I had no idea what a creep he was. Now it has come out, some of it at least, and yet the obvious fact of his misogyny is not even hardly being discussed.