People often ask me what possessed me to make a film about my sex addiction. There are several reasons, but one of the main reasons is to help demolish the cultural stereotype about the kinds of people who engage in sexually compulsive behavior. The truth is that the number of sex addicts in this country is much larger than most people realize, and that some of the people one would least suspect are sex addicts.
When Anita Hill accused Republican Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his Senate confirmation hearings, Clarence Thomas' lawyers called as defense witnesses several of Thomas' female secretaries. These female secretaries all testified that Clarance Thomas was a very nice man, that he had never done anything sexually inappropriate in their presence, and that it was inconceivable to them that he could have done any of the things that Anita Hill had accused him of doing.
This defense, based on Thomas' "character," was also based on a fundamentally erroneous stereotype about the kinds of people who engage in sexual inappropriate behavior. The secretaries in question demonstrated a deep-seated ignorance about male sexuality and about the sexual behaviors that otherwise "nice" men are capable of. And yet, it was their testimony that "convinced" the all-male Senators in charge of the confirmation hearings (one of whom was Senator Ted Kennedy, another sex addict badly in need of a 12-step program) to dismiss Anita Hill's plausible and very detailed charges.
I believe Anita Hill because I am a sex addict and I know how sex addiction works. And Ted Kennedy should have known better as well. I believe that he did know, and that he allowed Clarence Thomas to be confirmed as a Supreme Court Judge so as not to have to face similar accusations himself.
If there had been more public awareness about what sex addiction is and how it functions, Clarence Thomas might not have been confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice of the United States. Which means that the 5-4 Supreme Court decision to forbid a recount and hand the presidency to Geoge W. Bush might not have happened. Which means that the Iraq war might not have happened. Which means that tens of thousands of innocent people who have died because of that war would still be alive today. Which also means that we might not have been saddled with this huge deficit, we might not have had our environmental protections gutted by greedy short-sighted millionaires, and we might not be experiencing the massive political disaffection that exists today.
This is all hypothetical, of course, but the point is that these things do have all kinds of social and political ramifications that end up affecting us all. If there had been more understanding of sexual addiction, President Clinton might not have felt the need to lie about his relations with Monika Lewinsky, and might have been able to get help instead of having to face impeachment proceedings. The Republicans might not have been able to exploit the sex scandal to their advantage and thereby succeed in eroding our constitutional system of checks and balances through a stranglehold on political power.
I am a sex addict, and I'm not the only one. And the more people who can get up the courage to come out and be honest about it, the better it will be for all of us.
posted by Caveh Zahedi at
1:14 AM
