On Thursday, five women accused Louis C.K. of sexual misconduct in the New York Times. Three of them alleged that C.K. had masturbated in front of them.
On Friday, C.K. released a statement confirming their accounts. “Their stories are true,” he writes.
The news isn’t exactly shocking: Rumors of such acts have been dogging the comedian for years, and he’s even made reference to them in scenes from his work.
But the motivation for C.K.’s abuse is harder to grasp. What is there to gain from touching yourself in front of an unwilling witness?
C.K. made a stab at explaining himself in his statement: “At the time, I said to myself that what I did was OK because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first, which is also true. But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isn’t a question. It’s a predicament for them. The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly.”
While every case is different, experts say that power is often a motivating factor in behaviors like these.
“You’re in a position of power when you’re in a sexual scene with someone who doesn’t want it,” Sari Cooper, director of the Center for Love and Sex, tells The Post. “And there’s an element of erotic excitement that a person might have in scaring a person.”
Part of the draw may also come from making a private act public, says NY-based licensed marriage and family therapist Gracie Landes. During solo masturbation, she says, “a man can think what he wants, without having to relate to another person, explain, adjust or negotiate. Making it public changes the dynamic — the man who masturbates in public is sending a message that he doesn’t have to follow the rules.”
Plus, Landes points out, making someone watch you masturbate is lower-risk than other forms of sexual assault — and less likely to lead to consequences.
“Offenders use the element of surprise to catch their victims off guard,” she says. “The act is so incongruent with normal public behavior that most victims don’t know how to respond. While a few will say something, most just try to escape.”