fed up with the way this has been reported leave hear alone you mack out you are so perfect it make me so sad are you all so inocent

iris why did u not have more respect for ur self,and the position u held in goverment,sad woman,i feel sorry for u and ur family

I agree with the general sociological points made here: there is no doubt in my mind that there exists a large disparity in societal attitudes towards sexual behaviour, predicated purely on gender. For once however, I don't think that these attitudes are at play here as to 'what makes this scandal so scandalous.'

Firstly, it is the accompanying corruption that makes Mrs. Robinson's position politically untenable rather than her infidelity, at least technically.

Secondly, as noted above, it’s the hypocrisy of the ultra-moralistic Mrs. Robinson and her party, whose electoral bedrock is the practically fundamentalist Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster. Her comments on homosexuality have to be seen to be believed. And without casting aspersions on the legitimacy of her pyschological condition, I suspect that it's prominence in the communications coming from Mr. Robinson in particular, is a deliberate attempt to keep the media at a certain distance and prevent a feeding frenzy. I also think that perhaps both Sinn Fein and the DUP have ramped this up as they are looking for an excuse - not necessarily with sinister motives - to reassess their implausible coalition.

I think this raises an interesting point regarding how as a society we seem more prepared to forgive infidelity, if people are more open about it - Ronnie Wood, David Letterman etc - than if people have previously projected a squeaky clean image, like Robinson, Tiger Woods or Mark Oaten. It's as if a cheeky personality, or a bit of self-deprecation makes essentially the same act, somehow better. Politicians invariably fall into this latter category and it’s difficult to think of examples of them getting an easy ride, irrespective of gender. Apart from Boris that is, which only further illustrates the point. I actually think that this deep-seated unquenchable thirst for schadenfreude with respect to public figures is a hidden driver for all sorts of contemporary cultural phenomenon, be it reality TV, a celebrity obsessed media and (partially) the erosion of trust in politics. It wasn’t just that MP’s were claiming unlawful expenses, people wanted them to be.

I do however completely agree with the more astute point made here, that there are undertones of the cuckolded husband attitude, in the knock-on impact the affair has had on Mr. Robinson’s political authority.

I'm not familiar with the details of how this case has been reported but its about time more was done to criticise the way in which women are portrayed in the media, particularly the tabloids, concerning sexual behaviour. There's always a jokey edge to it when its a mans indiscretion, whereas women are completely vilified. When David Beckham cheated look at how he was potrayed compared to Rebecca Loos, who he cheated with. This issue should be shouted from the rooftops yet you rarely hear todays young women complaining. If anything they are more prepared to conform to their media stereotype. If nothing is done to curb this then how can the slow process of changing societies attitudes begin?