Clinton’s sexual scandals raised his public standing by making him seem masculine.

Evidence

Since the 1970s, conservatives had been tarring liberal men as wimps, deficient in masculine leadership qualities. As the details of the Lewinsky scandal came to light, “Bill Clinton’s image went from that of the neutered househusband of an emasculating harridan to that of a swaggering stud-muffin whose untrammeled lust for sexual conquest imperiled all females in his orbit,” according to clinical psychologist Stephen Ducat. Perhaps, “behind the tongue-clucking disapprobation of some male commentators” there lurked “a thinly disguised envy.” Clinton’s job rating received a significant boost as the scandal unfolded—“the formerly feminized president had been resurrected as a phallic leader.” — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 334

Categorization

• XREF: This male-envy reading of Clinton’s popularity connects to the book’s central militant-masculinity thesis and to broader cultural analyses like Susan Faludi’s work on backlash.