Blame Huma

Because we are a garbage culture that seeks to blame women always and forever for men's bad behavior, the implicit shaming of Anthony Weiner's wife Huma Abedin has begun. As if his career trajectory (he still leads in the polls in the NYC mayoral race) is her personal responsibility; if she'd only leave him, then he'd be done. It has nothing to do with the party that still supports him, or the donors who still fund him, or the voters who still say they're on his team. All of them are magically held in thrall by Abedin's decision to stay with her husband, for reasons we cannot know.

All we do know is that we definitely need to judge her, and speculate about her motives, and treat her life like a TV show, and delight in how her humiliation "humanizes" her, and talk about her fucking lipstick.

New York Times—Many New York Women Are Baffled at Loyalty Shown by Weiner's Wife.

Washington Post—Huma Abedin Steps into High-Profile Role as Anthony Weiner's Chief Defender.

Vanity Fair—An Alternate Theory of Huma Abedin.

The Week—Can Huma Abedin Save Anthony Weiner?

The New Yorker—Anthony Weiner, His Sex Messages, and His Wife.

MSNBC—Huma Abedin and the Wifely Role.

ABC—Huma Abedin's Devotion to Anthony Weiner a Familiar Subplot.

Raw Story—8 lessons Huma Abedin Should Learn from "The Good Wife."

CNN—Hillary Clinton Adviser Huma Abedin, Anthony Weiner's Wife, Now in Spotlight.

NY Magazine—No Longer Flawless, Huma Abedin's Been Humanized.

Huffington Post—Huma Abedin's Red Lipstick Takes Her Through Tough Times.

Et cetera. Gross.

We mustn't ever forget that the purpose of traditional hetero marriage is for men to control their wives, and for wives to tame their husbands.