Woods, cont.

There’s a lot of interesting information on L’affair Tiger in this article in today’s New York Post. The other articles linked at this page are also worth looking at.

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A. Zarkov writes:

The tabloid press reports that Woods will sign a post-nuptial contract to keep his marriage intact. He already has a pre-nuptial. I cannot speak to Florida family law, but in California such contracts, pre or post, can be difficult to enforce. A court could decide the contract is unenforceable because it was signed under duress. For example, if the marriage-to-be is conditioned on signing a pre-nuptial, some judges regard that as duress, and won’t enforce it. It seems to me that Woods is under a lot of duress in this matter, and he could use that to attack enforcement in the future. Of course as a practical matter, courts generally will enforce a contract if it benefits wife, and refuse to enforce it if the contract benefits husband.

Rich guys usually give wife a big lump payout up front before or immediately after the marriage. Courts tend not to be overly sympathetic to wives who got $20 million or so just for saying “I do.” Ted Turner did this with Jane Fonda. Donald Trump has also done this a number of times. Trump has been clever, he renegotiates, or at least he has wife agree to continue the current pre-nuptial every five years. If wife won’t agree, then he divorces her under the terms of the existing contract. Family law courts also tend to throw out old contracts under the theory that circumstances have changed significantly since the marriage. That’s why Trump refreshes the contract every five years.

Many family law attorneys regard these contracts more as bargaining chips, than enforceable agreements for husbands. Family law courts is really tough on men—they are anything but fair.

December 5

Ben W. writes:

I have a question that nobody is asking anywhere and I’m wondering why. Every female that is being associated with Tiger Woods is white. Not one black woman around. WHY? Isn’t this an anomaly? The eye of the tiger, right …

David B. writes:

Yes, you’re right. Woods’ wife is bland. She is just a trophy on the shelf and has no self-respect if she stays with him. I don’t think the other women Tiger plays with are great prizes.

Paul K. writes:

Do you wonder, as I do, why someone like Tiger bothers to get married? Is it to have a fake veneer of bourgeois respectability? Or is it what they call compartmentalization, in that between dalliances with the mistresses he sincerely enjoys the simple pleasure of home and hearth? And what a class act Elin Nordegren must be, demanding top dollar to extend this farce.

Tiger has probably not slept with as many women as his friend Derek Jeter, but Jeter at least has the integrity not to pretend to be married.

LA replies:

It’s not a mystery. People want different things. He wanted to be married. But when he’s on the tour, a demi god surrounded by worshipful people including beautiful women throwing themselves at him, and he’s playing a tournament, at the top of his game, and he’s on top of the world, does he just go back to his hotel room at night alone? Infidelity would have to be seen as the default behavior for a person in that situation, and resistance to infidelity as heroic. I think the coverage and condemnation of Woods have simply not considered the staggering temptations to which a man in his situation is exposed. It’s so crazy, we have this ultra sexual liberated society, but then suddenly if a star commits adultery, the society begins condemning him. That doesn’t make the adultery right. But if want men to be faithful to their wives, then we need to foster a culture in which sexual restraint rather than sexual freedom is made the standard.

A female friend suggested that if Woods wanted to avoid infidelity, he might have thought of bringing his wife with him when he was traveling. But that may not be practicable.

Slightly off topic, I’m told that Billy Graham was never alone with a woman not his wife. He would always have a third person present so that not even a suspicion of infidelity could arise.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at December 04, 2009 07:26 PM | Send