AEGiS-ATN: Titillationism--Or, Register Now to Vote!

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Titillationism--Or, Register Now to Vote!

AIDS TREATMENT NEWS Issue #303, September 18, 1998
John S. James

Major national elections are November 3, but you must register *now*, by early October, to be able to vote. You might need to re-register if you have moved, or if you did not vote in the last election; call your Registrar of Voters to check the requirements in your area. You can vote absentee, or by mail, but in order to do so you must not only be registered, but also apply in time. Pundits have predicted a low turnout--which means that your vote, and the friends you get to the polls, will count more. Doug Ireland's article in POZ magazine, October 98, page 47, listed Senate and House races which may be particularly important for people with AIDS or HIV.

All major elections are critical this time because a new and ugly sexual inquisition could grow from the Starr-Clinton- Lewinsky national psychodrama. If an extramarital affair or its coverup disqualifies one from public office, what about a gay relationship? "Traditional values" regarded homosexuality in any form or context as considerably worse than a heterosexual affair. Stigma around AIDS is still widespread (as recently illustrated by a 570% increase in sales of the home HIV test kit when Longs Drug Stores moved it from a locked glass case to an open shelf, where customers did not have to ask the pharmacist for the test). A national sex panic would harm individuals affected, and also impede efforts to prevent new infections.

We coined the word "titillationism" to mean an unholy alliance between prudery and prurience--illustrated here by the semen-stained dress, oral sex reports on television news, the search for "truth" meaning sexual details, and most graphically the 445-page Starr report. 20 million copies were delivered by Internet within two days of its publication; without the sex, a massive legal/political document in the news--dumped onto a public already fed up with the issue-- would be lucky to get one percent of that audience.

We may be fortunate so far that the attacks on Clinton have focused on lying more than on sex. But the lying issue has its own disconnect, since the nation and the world would clearly be better off if the Clinton/Lewinsky relationship had remained private. As people reflect that in this case the "truth" was not in their interest--dredged up at great expense, for no public purpose, and despite the risk of damaging the efforts to prevent a worldwide economic catastrophe--the inquisitors may shift their focus back to sex.

Analysis of supermarket tabloid articles (on any issue) shows a curious imbalance, with *personal* failings, flaws, mistakes, or other wrongness of an individual being the dramatic focus of many stories, while *institutional* failings almost never appear. In the mainstream press (such as the leading big-city daily newspapers, and TV network news or news magazines), this focus is usually more balanced, with both individual and institutional flaws reported. But with Clinton/Lewinsky the mainstream press has switched to tabloid style, focusing overwhelmingly on the personal (whether Clinton is telling the truth, for example) over the institutional (such as whether the national press--led in this case by THE NEW YORK TIMES--is subordinating national interest to partisan agendas).

The November 3 elections could bring to power officeholders who owe their success to a "sexual McCarthyism," a new meanness in U.S. politics. The danger is that many people will stay home on election day because they are turned off by the recent events, allowing an intolerant minority to dictate the outcome. By voting and encouraging others to do so, you can help stop that from happening.

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