Riddle me this…
Tiger Woods, the highest paid athlete in the world today, the highest paid athlete in perhaps world history, risked losing this:
Elin Nordegren
and this:
for this
Rachel Uchitel
this
Jaimee Grubbs
and/or this
Kalika Moquin
Now I’m not going to tell a man how to run his own home, but it seems like a pretty bad trade. Actually, it seems like a godawful trade, as in “Gimme-your-roller-skates-and-I’ll-give-you-my-Ferrari.” Or “Give me a penny and I’ll give you my dignity.” Just on the physical level, isn’t there a big physical difference between Tiger’s beautiful wife and…the, um, others? I wondered the same thing about John Edwards when he was with what’s-her-face. If I were a young, rich, good looking, and powerful American politician, I’m not 100% sure what I’d be doing, but I’m 150% sure it would NOT be Rielle Hunter.
John Edwards/Rielle Hunter
So I think we figured out what a beta woman is. (I didn’t mention Clinton/Lewinsky because I actually respect Lewinsky. She really did turn it around. All the shame belongs to Slick.)
But I wonder if we judge these women by some quality other than the fact that they cheated. No one criticizes Wendi Deng for getting Rupes to dump his wife, nor do most people criticize what Angelina did to Brad and Jen. Is it just because Wendi and Angelina are unnaturally good looking? Or is it because they’re unnaturally ambitious and smart? Or is it because they actually succeeded in supplanting the previous wives? The female alpha/beta issue is complex.
(For the record, I do feel somewhat bad for Tiger. Unlike Slick Willie, I have a feeling he really didn’t want to get caught.)
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I agree with everything you said. About #1…I think...
I would say that’s a horrible trade. But I gotta say, if he had a little alcohol on him, he probably didn’t weigh the consequences. I’m just sayin’.
Maybe I’m just a shallow, horrible, bastard, but ummm… NONE of those women seem that attractive to me. They’re all YUGOs to me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zastava_Koral#Criticism_and_response
Fortunately for Tiger, at least his kids and dogs are still cute.
Hello. He is super famous, super rich, and super talented all rolled into one. Guys like him have loads of attractive startstruck women coming on to them every time they’re out in public. The guy’s only human. He’d have to be a MF’ing saint to avoid straying.
There’s a lesson to be learned from this. Maybe two.
One: Show me a drop-dead gorgeous woman and I’ll show you a man who’s tired as hell of having sex with her.
And two: if the woman ain’t gettin’ it done in the bedroom, don’t think there’s a man alive who won’t go run the streets like an alley cat.
I’ve never cared much for Tiger Woods –too emo, IMHO– so this whole fiasco jusy makes me laugh and laugh and laugh.
I just saw this:
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20324190,00.html
Counseling sessions more than once a day? Things are not looking good for them.
And the Daily Beast is reporting terms of the prenup:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-12-03/new-details-on-tigers-prenup/?cid=hp:mainpromo1
It sounds like she’s going to get paid $5 million to stay with him, AND she’s going to get the prenup rewritten. Things definitely get complicated when money is involved.
The nature of the beast is that I only comment when I have a bone to pick (and less busy).
so…
You know nothing about the women and you are judging purely based on looks. Do looks matter, yes, they do to me, but if you are basing liking and, Jesus spending the rest of your life with someone, and you pick just based on looks, its going to be a happy first year, and a nightmare for the rest.
He is bored, he cheated, pretty simple. Happens all the time. He is not trading anything. He is trying to have more than what he has and he got caught. Problem is he is super famous, pretty hard to cheat…and get away with it when you are icon status.
Though I have no sympathy for Rielle Hunter, you are using the worst possible picture of her. Why did Bill and John cheat with who they cheat with, because those were one of the only options available.
You don’t think that people don’t criticize Wendi? they do, same with Angelina.
“One: Show me a drop-dead gorgeous woman and I’ll show you a man who’s tired as hell of having sex with her.”
I does demonstrate that the all-important “good looks” category does not keep a partner satisfied (or loyal) in a relationship if that’s all that it’s based on.
“And two: if the woman ain’t gettin’ it done in the bedroom, don’t think there’s a man alive who won’t go run the streets like an alley cat.”
Hmmm…
I’m not sure about that one. That sounds as if the man’s sexual checklist of desires must be satisfied, item by item, or else it only follows that he will “go run the streets like an alley cat.”
I’m not saying that that’s necessarily your intent, but it does sound dangerously close.
Tiger wasn’t trading down, he’s a cad. He wasn’t thinking of trading, he was thinking with his dumb stick.
If he lost Elin, he would have found another “wife” quality woman to be wife no. 2. He would not have “promoted” a trashy mistress.
He might pay Elin $5MA now, but he may as well start looking for a new wife. She won’t stick around for this crap for much longer. Either that or she’ll bust his balls for so long, he’ll cut her loose.
Lingyai,
Thanks for commenting when you have a bone to pick. You’re usually right, and in this case, you still might be right.
I don’t think Tiger had any intention of spending his life with these other women, but as far as trading his family for his flings, I think that’s still up in the air. Depending on how Elin reacts to his “transgressions,” he might be trading. According to reports, Elin is getting another $5 million just to stay with him in light of his affairs. That’s a drop in the bucket for him–he makes $5 million in two months from just the interest on his holdings alone–but the ball is really on her course right now.
I agree with you that people criticize Wendi and Angelina, but comparatively little. Both still grace the lists of supposedly admirable people. Angelina especially: the tabloids photograph and talk about her a lot, but rarely do they harp on Brad’s infidelity.
King,
That sounds as if the man’s sexual checklist of desires must be satisfied, item by item, or else it only follows that he will “go run the streets like an alley cat.”
I’m not saying that that’s necessarily your intent, but it does sound dangerously close.
I agree. It’s probably not the intent, but it does sound kind of close.
I think relationships change after kids–it’s something that everyone should learn to expect. Even for rich folk like Elin and Tiger, I’m pretty sure Elin is exhausted at the end of the day. When you have kids, your hands are always full. So even if Tiger and Elin were having fun twenty four seven while he was off the course pre-kids, I’m willing to bet that things have been different since. This would be the case no matter who Elin was. (Things are probably even different for Tito Ortiz and the mother of his children these days.)
How do prenups work any way? I can understand that the payout at separation is contigent and structured on the number of years you are with someone. (more money paid out at separation the longer you are with someone). But the language here is just badly worded. To say that Elin will get another $5 million just to stay with Tiger doesn’t make sense or sound very moral. (Has anyone been applying the lessons from the Harvard classes?)
Does that mean he is paying her upfront to stay with him for a certain amount of years into the future?
Or does that mean that she will collect $5 million at the end of a certain amount of time regardless of whether she stays or leaves at the end of that amount of time?
Or does it mean that if she stays with him X number or years and then divorces him after X number of years, she will get X amount of dollars.
Where does justice and morality end and where does being a cheap prostitute and a wealthy John begin? Just asking.
I thought Tiger was an Uncle Tom and house Asian anyways. So who the fuck cares.
Elin Nordegren started out as a nanny before he met Tiger Woods, so it’s not like she’s any more “alpha” than the women he’s cheated on her with. Perhaps she’s more alpha in the sense that she didn’t appear to be trashy prior to hooking up with Tiger Woods.
er, I meant, before SHE met Tiger Woods
Like I said, where does justice and morality end and where does being a cheap/expensive prostitute and a wealthy John begin?
BTW, the whole alpha/beta discussion is interesting though I haven’t read what’s been posted or dicussed. But the alpha/beta invitably makes the participants sound self-absorbed, judgmental, and pretentious…although I have made a few judgements here from my virtuous tower…lol
Let me ask this. (Again, I haven’t read what’s been posted) Some of you whose parents immigrated over in search of a better life for you by sacrificing, saving, and working blue collar jobs at low wages in less than ideal conditions…do you consider them alpha or beta? I just think the whole idea of an alpha/beta discussion is a little silly and superficial.
“Elin started out as a nanny before he met Tiger Woods, so it’s not like she’s any more “alpha” than the women he’s cheated on her with. Perhaps she’s more alpha in the sense that she didn’t appear to be trashy prior to hooking up with Tiger Woods.”
@ Anonymous: Which is why these Alpha Beta designations are ultimately so meaningless, it’s all relative.
“Some of you whose parents immigrated over in search of a better life for you by sacrificing, saving, and working blue collar jobs at low wages in less than ideal conditions…do you consider them alpha or beta? I just think the whole idea of an alpha/beta discussion is a little silly and superficial.”
@ MT: Exactly! Were they following a “Beta Strategy” while the old money Alphas were snorting lines of cocaine of the bathroom countertop? Who was the Alpha and who was the Beta? It’s all meaningless.
mT wrote:
I thought Tiger was an Uncle Tom and house Asian anyways. So who the fuck cares.
I don’t think that language needs to be thrown around so flippantly. He isn’t malcom X but is not like the guy was promoting david carradine movies.
He is a super talented person who is cashing in.
Seems like the only person who can beat Tiger with a golf club is a blonde with a nice rack. Figures.
mT wrote:
“Let me ask this. (Again, I haven’t read what’s been posted) Some of you whose parents immigrated over in search of a better life for you by sacrificing, saving, and working blue collar jobs at low wages in less than ideal conditions…do you consider them alpha or beta? I just think the whole idea of an alpha/beta discussion is a little silly and superficial.”
Obviously, given the complexities of humans, no one can be labelled unilaterally as beta or alpha. Alpha and Beta were just terms used to classify the animal kingdom because it’s simpler to classify them. Associating alpha with “good” and beta with “bad” is a human instinct. Alphas and betas within the animal kingdom all serve a purpose for propagating their species. It doesn’t make the betas any less important for submitting to the alpha male/female.
Using mT’s example with immigrant parents, I would objectively classify their socio-economic status as “beta” and their priorities/motivations as “alpha”. But if the parent is content with a blue-collar “beta” job, for example (and for whatever reason), it’s not necessarily bad to categorize him/her as a beta in career aspirations.
There’s nothing wrong with objectively categorizing elements of the human condition as alpha or beta, as long as we don’t put any subjective or moral meanings behind it.
Fact of life: rock stars, pro athletes, actors get more ass than a toilet seat. It’s about power and status and people who are star struck by those who have had celebrity status conferred upon them. Dos that make them “alpha” just because they can emote on screen, or throw a baseball? These men indulge in affairs because they can and because they don’t have to work hard to attract women. Sexual fulfillment is readily available to them.
At any rate, here’s my take on the notion of alpha and beta since I don’t buy into the meanings of these terms to describe Tiger Woods, etc… Again, as I posted over in the “Alpha-Beta” thread, I don’t take too much stock in the entire alpha = dominant, beta = subservient stuff. I think those words have been distorted by popular culture from its original meanings that animal behaviorist ascribe to those terms. In a pop culture sense, I understand what people mean by using those terms, but I don’t agree with the meanings they ascribe to it. it’s too black and white when there are so many variable qualities in human beings and in all kinds of settings.
So, I’m in agreement with King that these terms or labels to describe sociologic hierarchy or group dynamics are essentially meaningless. There are no groups of Alphas dominating my life and I’m not subservient to anyone. It isn’t a matter of who’s on top and who’s on the bottom. If you’re talking about animal behavior, that notion, as applied to wolves or dogs is non-existent. Quoting from my own post over in the “Alpha-Beta” thread:
Alexandra Horowitz, professor, a psychology professor at Columbia University wrote a book called “Inside Of a Dog” and writes about what it’s like to inhabit a dog’s life based on what animal behaviorists know about dogs’ cognitive skills. Indeed, dogs may have descended from wolves but she writes that those traits have long vanished over time. From a NY Times book review excerpt about her book:
“Dogs do not form true packs,” she writes. “They scavenge or hunt small prey individually or in parallel,” rather than cooperatively, as wolves do. Countering the currently fashionable alpha dog “pack theories” of dog training, Horowitz notes that “in the wild, wolf packs consist almost entirely of related or mated animals. They are families, not groups of peers vying for the top spot. . . . Behaviors seen as ‘dominant’ or ‘submissive’ are used not in a scramble for power; they are used to maintain social unity.”
So basically, if you wanted to translate the dog pack to human behavior, it’s really in the context of community or family. Not just raw aggression in assuming power or control, dog-eat-dog in every day life. Rather, it’s a naturally occuring structure, in that the “alphas” of the group are basically your parents or some authority figure of your group. If you’re “beta”, then you pay attention to your parents or you get whupped upside the head for doing boneheaded things to the family.
instead of using these terms, why not just frame it as desireable traits, talents or qualities in a person? Tiger Woods has a great talent, that’s all. Now, he’s obviously given into the temptation that his celebrity status produced. Did he make bad trades? Ehhh, maybe. I don’t really see him as trading down or trading up; he’s just dipping his wick in the available inkwell. Have you ever thought that maybe women with far more attractive looks than the women cited here turned Woods down for being sleazy?
Wow, lots of great thoughts. I’m going to add more to this later. But real quick:
mT:
“Does that mean he is paying her upfront to stay with him for a certain amount of years into the future?
Or does that mean that she will collect $5 million at the end of a certain amount of time regardless of whether she stays or leaves at the end of that amount of time?
Or does it mean that if she stays with him X number or years and then divorces him after X number of years, she will get X amount of dollars.”
The first one and the third one. She gets a cool $5 mil just for staying with him, from his bank account into hers. They’re also pulling back the time commitments, i.e. instead of X million if they divorce after 10 years, Elin will get the same after 7. I think they’re upping those numbers too.
Thanks for the awesome questions. I will be back very soon!
Some of you whose parents immigrated over in search of a better life for you by sacrificing, saving, and working blue collar jobs at low wages in less than ideal conditions…do you consider them alpha or beta? I just think the whole idea of an alpha/beta discussion is a little silly and superficial.
I’d say alpha. Most of those in our families who became blue collar workers after immigrating did so because it was an improvement compared to what came before. It takes balls to work in a Chinese laundry in a new country. That’s totally alpha, which is why so many in the activist community idealize the railroad workers of the 1800′s.
Okay, mT, I just posted about the money/marriage question:
http://www.bigwowo.com/2009/12/money-marriage-and-the-arrangements-people-make/
Sound off!
Hmmm, now that Tiger has what… 10 mistresses identified, I’m beginning to suspect that perhaps, our dear Mr. Woods is a bit of a Anglophile.
Yup yup yup. Here it is:
http://www.bigwowo.com/2009/12/tiger-woods-and-his-white-women/
(I didn’t update the number to 10. I wrote it earlier today, and well, I figure the number could be higher by the time those on the East Coast read my blog tomorrow.)