A little history:
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The most damning incident on DSK’s sexual resume, however, is his attack on the god-child of his second wife. On a television talk-show in 2007, Tristane Banon recalled the details of her ordeal, saying, “He wanted to grab my hand while answering my questions, and then my arm. We ended up fighting, since I said clearly, ‘No, no.’ We fought on the floor, I kicked him, he undid my bra, he tried to remove my jeans.”
Describing him as a “rutting chimpanzee,” she said, “It finished badly … very violently … I kicked him … When we were fighting, I mentioned the word ‘rape’ to make him afraid, but it didn’t have any effect. I managed to get out.” (Viewers were not told the identity of her attacker because the TV station helpfully bleeped his name out.)
Banan never pressed charges, persuaded by her mother, Ann Mansouret, who didn’t want her daughter to be tainted as the girl who had “a problem” with a famous politician. When Mansouret confronted Strauss-Kahn, he said simply, “I don’t know what happened, I went crazy.” Just as he went crazy on Sunday in New York.
The uglier truth about the Strauss-Kahn arrest is that his history of sexual predation has been carefully kept under wraps by a conspiracy of silence. He has long been known as someone who “had difficulty in keeping his hands to himself in the presence of women.” Back in 2007, Jean Quatremer, the Brussels correspondent for Libération, was one of the few journalists to hint at his vice: “Too insistent, he often comes close to harassment … A weakness known by the media, but which nobody mentions.”
Explaining this curious restraint, French reporter Lorraine Millot said, “Among journalists, at least in France, Mr. Strauss-Kahn has long had the reputation of jumping on anything that moves. … But he is not the only French politician with this problem, so we have avoided excessively highlighting this aspect of his personality.”
What is worse, however, is that Strauss-Kahn’s unacceptable— and in some instances, criminal— behaviour was instead passed off as sexual machismo. The same media made a huge fuss over his affairs, burnishing his reputation as a ladies man. As a Times (London) article noted back in 2009, “(Some) analysts argue that Strauss-Kahn can only benefit from a reputation, in the best presidential tradition, as a chaud lapin (“hot rabbit”), a man who likes chasing.” No wonder DSK welcomed, and even fanned his notoriety, once telling journalists, “Yes I like women … So what?”
As it turns out, Dominique Strauss-Kahn may not like women very much. He appears instead to be a classic megalomaniac who thinks all women should be at his disposal. Power breeds hubris, both in men and women (See: Indira Gandhi, Jayalalithaa et al). But in a number of men, this arrogance becomes a form of sexual entitlement. Perhaps those simian analogies are indeed apt. Much like an alpha gorilla or chimp, DSK feels he should be allowed to readily take any female who catches his fancy, be it a fellow politician or the daughter of a family friend or a hotel maid.
Power also breeds a sense of immunity. Why did he do it? Because he could. If he got away with attacking a privileged member of the French elite, then why not a semi-literate African immigrant?
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