Jess, I think you make an important point about Tiger’s (supposed) comeback: He doesn’t have to appeal to women. Golf’s audience is overwhelmingly male. Nike is his biggest source of endorsement income, and while the company has distanced itself some, I can’t see the company dropping him entirely, especially considering they quietly stuck with Kobe Bryant during his scandal. As a sports fan, I’m eager to see him back on the course, and “forgiving” him isn’t really an issue. Yeah, I liked the idea that Tiger was a stand-up guy, but I didn’t have a lot invested in it. He’s an athlete. He’s the best in the world at taking a little white ball and smacking it into a cup, and making it as exciting and dramatic as one could possibly make a sport with so little action.

I’ve been thinking of the Sanford comparison myself. Whenever we have a political sex scandal in this country, we hear that the wise sages in Europe don’t hold their politicians to such lofty standards and we’re Puritanical for doing so. Well, maybe. But I think that at least sometimes, politicians should be held to different standards than celebrities. Look at how bizarrely Sanford behaved during the revelation of his affair, from the “Appalachian Trail” mystery to the weird press conference about weeping over his soul mate. That gives me a considerable amount of insight into both his character and mental state, and it tells me that he’s not someone I want in a position to make decisions on the behalf of an entire state.

So, I wish Tiger well on the course, whether he’s got Elin in the gallery or not. Just don’t run for office.

Mark Dadswell/Getty Images. Photograph of Mark Sanford by Davis Turner/Getty Images

Tags: mark sanford, sex scandals, tiger woods

It was a mere seven months ago that the New York Times declared the distended male gut part of the new "unvarying male uniform" in a piece that honestly read like an Onion satire of vacuous trend journalism. (Choice quote: "Hipsters, by nature contrarian, according to Dan Peres, the editor of Details, may be reacting in opposition to the president ...' If we had a slob in the White House, all the hipsters would turn into some walking Chippendales calendar.' ") But, oh, how things change! Just yesterday, Spanx, the makers of those shape-contorting nylon chokeholds for female abdomens, unveiled a line of gear intended to compress the wobbly bits of menfolk. So reports the Wall Street Journal:

At a suite at the Bryant Park Hotel this afternoon, the brand that revolutionized red-carpet dressing with products like “Power Panties” and “Slim Cognito” bodysuits unveiled a simple mini-collection of undershirts for guys: tank tops, v-necks and crewnecks. Made of Egyptian cotton, the 19% spandex shirts are said to conceal beer guts, smooth the body, and generally make men look fitter—even though, to the untrained eye, the undergarments look exactly like a normal shirt. (The prices, $55-$58, are another story.)

What does it all mean, besides that the gym-tan-laundry imperative of the Jersey Shore men has perhaps had some influence? Well, maybe men are swayed by Hollywood bodies, the pressure to be fit, and are just a wee bit insecure about their bodies too. (That's definitely what Spanx founder Sarah Blakely discovered—she created the line after receiving e-mails from men pleading for male shapewear.) Finally, some evidence that body image is a gender-equal issue! I can breathe again. Oh wait, no I can't. I'm wearing Spanx.

Tags: new york times, spanx, the male gut, WSJ

Emily, I agree with you: Tiger Woods' wife Elin should not get up on that podium and stand by her man. But not because there are feminist implications—because it truly doesn't matter for Tiger's future. This morning on Good Morning America, there was some speculation that the only way the American public would forgive Tiger is if Elin forgives him. I don't think that this is the case. Pardon this generalization, but I'd bet that in the eyes of most women, Tiger's reputation is forever ruined. That women hate him means less to Woods than it would to a Mark Sanford: Tiger doesn't have to appeal to women to make a living or be successful in his career, while any politician who wants to get elected certainly does.

Even if Tiger and Elin manage to patch things up, he will never again be able to market himself as the consummate family man. His fidelity is a joke. Now he can only market himself as the best golfer around. Whether he wins with Elin at his side is irrelevant.

Tags: Elin Nordegren, tiger woods, tiger woods pga announcement

—Michelle Obama will sit down for an interview with former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on Fox News. Despite ideological differences, Huckabee, who once tipped the scales at nearly 300 pounds, commends the first lady for her efforts to combat child obesity. [Politico]

—U-S-A! U-S-A! Skier Lindsey Vonn powers through her injury and becomes the first American woman to win a gold medal in Olympic downhill. [New York Times]

—Childbirth may be a traumatic experience for some women, but can it cause PTSD? [Salon]

—Republicans and Democrats set aside their petty partisan squabbles to rewrite No Child Left Behind. [Washington Post]

—Manorexics and judgmental girlfriends rejoice: Spanx for men are here! [Jezebel]

—Virginia Senate quashes House’s attempt to pilfer funds from the sale of pro-choice license plates. [Feministing]

Tags: abortion, childhood obesity, Huckabee, Lindsey Vonn, Michelle Obama, no child left behind, olympics, pregnancy, ptsd, spanx

Tiger Woods will try to make amends Friday morning to his fans, speaking at PGA headquarters. Will Elin Nordegren stand up there next to him? It's the irresistible question. It's also becoming a tiresome one. The wronged celebrity wife has such a binary choice: Swallow all the crazy philandering (in Tiger's case, a sex addiction?) or walk away. Down both paths lie some degree of humiliation. Jenny Sanford made us cheer as the feminist choice her decision not to stand by, silently and supportively, while her husband, who is somehow still the governor, fell apart before all of our eyes. It was such a welcome contrast to Silda Spitzer, and before her, in another era of her life, Hillary Clinton.

But now Sanford's book has made me wonder about forcing any of these women to bear the symbolic weight of our feminist expectations. Sanford says she wrote her book for her kids, but as Hanna pointed out, no child needs to read about what a rotten husband his dad was. To me the book reads like revenge sugar-coated with Scripture. Which brings me back to Elin Nordegren and the choice she has tomorrow morning. Sure, I hope she stays home and lets Tiger flounder through this himself. But mostly I wish it was a choice she didn't have to make. Can't the jerk husbands find a way to crawl back into their supporters' good graces without forcing onto their wives this glaringly public choice, in one stark moment, through which the meaning of their marriages and their futures will forever be refracted?

Tags: Elin Nordegren, Jenny Sanford, tiger woods, wronged wives

Emily, I too was rooting for Dale Begg-Smith, though less for his looks than his treachery. As everyone knows by now, the man ditched Canada for Australia, and came back for a bit to be booed during his medal ceremony.

Like all Americans, I fear the dark wrath of Canadian nationalism and am thus eager to see able-bodied men flee the True North. But above and beyond the Canuck threat, there is something wonderful about carpetbagging Olympians. By refusing to play for the team God gave him, Begg-Smith makes delicious mockery of all the flags, all the anthems, and all the medal counts. He wipes away the artifice of politics, of the absurd spectacle in which massive nation states “compete” against tiny ones, and cuts to the core of the sport: man, snow, skis.

In a better world, you’d be able to ski under any flag you like. You could make up a flag and compete under that. You could declare yourself a representative of Herland, Narnia, or Ethniklashistan. Barring a new dawn of Olympic liberalism, I’ll take this guy.

Tags: Dale Begg-Smith, olympics