One could argue that Weiner was merely flirting with Twitter “friends” who, presumably, were interested in his bona fides. Then again, Weiner was a congressman, not a frat boy on spring break. There really is, or should be, a distinction.

And though purchased sex implies a mutually agreeable, if illegal, transaction, the power differential between an elected official and a prostitute is explicit.

But turn on the TV and you’ll hear that no one really cares anymore, because it’s “only sex.”

If ever two words were mismatched.

There is never, ever “only” sex, especially for women, who are, indeed, different from men. We can argue otherwise until all the little dissertations cry “oui, oui, oui” all the way home. But the fact that the double standard persists in the human psyche, not to mention nature, demonstrates this unfair truth. This is why we have laws to level the playing field.