Men Behaving Badly

Is it possible to have a scandal based on consensual sex in a culture where consensual sex is deemed inherently non-scandalous?  Apparently it is, but it's not clear why.  NFL fans have undoubtedly heard news of the Minnesota Vikings' recent "sex party."  For those who live around the Twin Cities, the story has dominated local news for a full week.  The public and media reactions to the party have been pure outrage -- how could these well-paid professionals engage in this sort of conduct?

What's intriguing to me is that no one really explains why this is so outrageous in today's culture.  We know something is wrong with what happened, but it's difficult to put into words when those words have been largely jettisoned by society.  A local columnist noticed today that "[e]veryone sputters with outrage, but no one really articulates why. When pressed, people generally mutter something about the Vikings being poor role models for our kids." 

A group of professional football players chartered boats stocked with liquor and may have hired prostitutes for a party closed to the public.  Laws may have been broken, but that has limited explanatory power, as athletes' drunk driving convictions and domestic violence arrests fall quickly off the media radar.  No one was forced to engage in sexual conduct.  No children were involved.  Booze, sex, and consenting adults -- outside the Vikings' party boat, that's the recipe for success for many current cultural phenomena, ranging from hugely popular television shows to vacation destinations.  Who are we to complain now?  More particularly, what exactly are we complaining about?

Rob