Was Wilt Chamberlain All That Bad?: The Ethics of Sexual Promiscuity

[Cena's Little Helper]

Sure, Wilt Chamberlain holds the NBA record for the most points ever scored in a single game, but his true legacy lies in his claim of bedding 20,000 women. When I first heard about the number that only a mile-high bedpost could account for in notches, I was instinctively disgusted. However, a few days ago, I came to the conclusion that what Chamberlain did wasn't all that bad (not admirable, but not ethically/morally wrong). Why? Well, as always, it's important to know the circumstances surrounding any claim. Here are a few things I gleaned from a wikipedia page on Wilt Chamberlain's personal life:

1) Wilt Chamberlain was never married.
2) Wilt Chamberlain never had kids.
3) To the best of his knowledge, Wilt Chamberlain never slept with a married woman.

So, while Chamberlain may have hurt some people with his sexual exploits (namely, any women that might have seen him on a frequent basis and who had an emotional attachment to him), they nonetheless never hurt or humiliated any woman that he made a commitment to or any children that he might have hypothetically had. Also, if we can take Chamberlain at his word about not sleeping with a woman whom he knew to be married, well, then we know he didn't potentially cause any husband emotional harm through disrespectful and negligent behavior. Ultimately then, I can't find fault with what Chamberlain.

Do you feel the same way? Furthermore, what do you think of the implications of my argument here (namely, that a person's sex life shouldn't have moral judgment passed upon it unless it involves extramarital sex or hinders one's ability to an example to their children)?

 

[klunderbunker]

If Chamberlain wanted to sleep with that many women and they wanted to sleep with him while he allegedly fathered no children, what's wrong with that? I find it a bit disgusting, but there's nothing wrong with it from a moral standpoint if it's ok with him. He never broke any law or rule at all by doing this and he wanted to do it and was able to do it. If this is the case and it wasn't directly harming anyone, sure it's ok. Any guilt would be put on his conscience or the women's, so why wouldn't this be ok?

 

[Ultra Awesome]

Yes, I agree. The only problem that I would see with Wilt Chamberlain sleeping with 20,000 women would be if he was married or any of the women he slept with were married themselves. Because, if that were the case, then not only would it cause problems with the said person's spouse, but also, it would be viewed as morally wrong with society.

However, the guy was not married, nor were any of the women. All he really wanted to do was just bang every chick that he could. And I see nothing wrong with that. The guy is a guy; Any other guy would have done the same as him if they were in his position. Is it disgusting like KB said? Probably. But I can tell you that that would not stop me from doing the same as Wilt. Every guy wants sex. That's a default. And if the craving is large enough to want to do it with 20,000 women, then fuck it; satisfy yourself until you've had your fill. Besides, the only real problem I could see with this is if one of them had S.T.D.'s--but to my knowledge, they didn't. Thus, there is no problem.

If I recall correctly, Wilt had sex with all these women to [over]compensate for his many rejections he faced in his youth. That to me sounds more like a psychological problem the guy faced if nothing else. He had sex to, I guess in a sense, overcome his problems; and I guess it worked (somewhat).

But yeah, I'm in full agreement with you Tdigs, this wasn't ethically wrong nor morally wrong. The chicks weren't married; neither was he. Thus, no real issue could be caused.

 

[LSN80]

Personally, I found what he did to be reprehensible. It wasn't as if Chamberlain was outed by someone, he boasted of bedding all those women. With his celebrity status, he already was in the spotlight. So for him to put himself out there like that, he has garnered whatever criticism and judgment that has come his way.

Do we have the right to judge him? Sure we do. Its our right as human beings. By putting himself out there in the way that he did, he set a poor example. It wasn't as if he was saying "Wow, I shouldn't have done this". It was a "Look at me and what I did. I nailed 20,000 women." Showing pride in that type of behavior sets a precedent for people, and a dangerous one at that. It says that as long as its consentual, sex without meaning or feeling is the way to act.

I understand the argument that he was never married, and he never had kids. Wilt was the basketball version of James Bond in that he bedded women at will with no long attachment or human element to it. Most women are different in that they tend to form attachments, especially to people of status. Even though the sex was consentual, I have a hard time believing that some of these women weren't hurt along the way. But ultimately, they knew what they were getting into with him, so that responsibility is on their shoulders. As much as I hate to say it and am disgusted by it, if there was an understood agreement between he and the person he bedded, then he technically did nothing wrong from an ethical standpoint. I found it morally repulsive that he would boast about it, which gives us the right to take shots at him. But its hard to fault him for maintaining the same lifestyle his entire career, because that's apparently all he knew. However disgusting his actions may be, there's no real issue here TDigs. He may have had no standards in terms of his behavior, but he did nothing ethically wrong. Morally, it's a piss poor example, but it was his and his business alone.

 

[El Rev sXe]

I agree with LSN80 that he shouldn't go out there and "say I banged 20,000 women". That is him just being a dick. That is something you do only with your male buddys .

Anyway, I actually don't give fuck, why would I? Because society finds it morally wrong? Fuck it. I'm sorry but if the girls were with boyfriend/girlfriend/fiancé/husband doesn't matter. After all is said and done, these ladies AGREED to have sex with Chamberlain. Men cheat, women cheat and that is irrelevant. What would be relevant was if one of those girls were forced or she had some kind of S.T.D. after having sex with Chamberlain. Since there isn't any kind of accusation on that topic, why would we care? After all, it is HIS life and HIS PERSONAL choice, but it is also HER choice and HER PERSONAL life.

 

[Born To Fly]

Wilt put it this way and I completely agree, "I was just doing what was natural — chasing good-looking ladies, whoever they were and wherever they were available." Who doesn't do that anyway? Only difference was that Wilt had game and he banged at least a woman a day from the time he was 15 until 1991. More power to him.