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 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

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

Tiger Woods seemed genuinely contrite at his press conference this morning—and notably, wife Elin was not at his side, nor was she in the room. Tiger was careful to say, as he was apparently holding back tears, that Elin had never been violent toward him, despite tabloid reports of her coming at him with a golf club the night of Thanksgiving. He spoke in the language of the 12-step sex-rehab program he is reportedly attending: He made reference to making amends repeatedly and spoke of his renewed committment to the Buddhism his mother taught him as a child.

And speaking of Tiger Woods' momma, Kultida, she was sitting front and center watching her son at the presser, and boy, did she look pissed. Her lips were in a tight line—one can only imagine what she was thinking while listening to her son talk about his bimbo transgressions. She did, however, hug Tiger and appear visibly warmer by the end of the speech. In terms of PR, I think this conference was a smart move: He really did seem sorry and deeply unhappy. It was hard not to feel some sympathy for him, even though he brought all this scrutiny on himself. If the emotion behind the speech was not genuine, Tiger should look into coming back as an actor, because the performance rang true.

Tags: Elin Nordegren, kultida woods, press conference, tiger woods