Anthony Weiner is a dangerous man—or at least he’d like the ladies to think so.
The N.Y.C. mayoral candidate publicly admitted Tuesday that he sent sexts to young women after he resigned in disgrace from Congress two years ago for similar promiscuous exploits. But it wasn’t his actions or his smarmy attempts at damage control that shocked us.
What really caught our attention was Weiner’s creative online alias, “Carlos Danger.”
Why Carlos? Why Danger? And what does it all mean? According to cyber experts and sex therapists, a whole lot.
“People think very carefully about the username they choose and what it means to others,” explains avatar expert Kristine Nowak, a communications professor at the University of Connecticut. “If you saw someone named Carlos Danger, would you engage with that person?”
Well, one woman apparently would. That woman is Sydney Elaine Leathers, known on the web by her own pseudonym “Sydneylainexo.” She’s a 23-year-old blogger from Indiana who, if her exchanges with Weiner are any indication, was at one point a big-time supporter of the candidate. According to a report on the gossip website The Dirty, Sydneylainexo and Carlos Danger did the deed, digitally speaking. (Note: The Dirty is the same website that published an anonymous gossip letter that claimed Sarah Jones, former Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader, slept with players and had STDs. Jones sued the website for publishing the letter and won her case in early July.)
“When people engage in online activity, they experiment with aspects of their personalities that they don’t feel comfortable sharing,” Nowak said. “Sometimes it’s complete fantasy. Other times it’s a way of revealing a piece of yourself that you don’t feel comfortable revealing to the people around you.”
This isn’t the first time a sexually frustrated politician or celebrity has adopted a head-scratching online persona. Consider N.Y.C. sex-scandal figure Eliot Spitzer, the former New York governor and current N.Y.C. comptroller candidate. Spitzer selected “George Fox” as his sexual pseudonym. And remember professional golfer Tiger Woods’ moniker, “Jose,” and football star Michael Vick’s freak name, “Ron Mexico.” It seems that creativity is key when it comes to scandalous online play.
But Carlos Danger has taken the fantasy username to new heights, and Tweeters are wondering how Weiner dreamed it up:
Why choose Carlos Danger? Isn't Weiner already the best sexting nom de plume?
— Lita Smith-Mines (@LitaTweets) July 24, 2013
I would love to ask Anthony Weiner…"Did you choose 'Carlos Danger' as a screen name because 'Dirty Sanchez' was already taken?"
— Laura Grayson (@GrayKayson) July 23, 2013
If you were named something ridiculous like Anthony Weiner, wouldn't you choose a cool moniker like Carlos Danger too? #carlosdanger
— Paul Schofield (@pschofie79) July 23, 2013
“Maybe Weiner thinks Latin names are sexy,” N.Y.C. sex therapist Madeleine Castellanos wondered, though she thinks the Danger part of the Jewish politician’s name is the real attention getter, a sentiment professor Nowak echoed.
“The question is whether he meant Danger as a danger to others or to himself,” Nowak explained. “It was in fact a great danger to go out and make trouble again.”
Weiner might have put his campaign in jeopardy (prior to his latest sext revelation, he was leading in the polls), but he has refused to quit the race. And as long as he’s still running, Carlos Danger is a name voters won’t soon forget. In fact, it might be Weiner’s way of showing the world who he really is.
The post What was Weiner thinking? Inside the mind of Carlos Danger appeared first on Vocativ.