Wife Swap: Do the Women Really Have a Say?

      What do Gary Busey and Ted Haggard have in common, you might ask? They plan to trade wives for two weeks. Busey and Haggard are slated to appear in an episode of ABC's Wife Swap together, a show in which two families trade wives to "see if the grass is greener on the other side of the fence," according to the show's website. The interesting thing about this upcoming celebrity episode is that Haggard is a former Evangelical pastor embroiled in scandal: he was fired from his post at the New Life Church in Colorado after it was discovered that he had been patronizing a male prostitute for three years. It was also discovered that Haggard had engaged in sexual acts with a 20 year old male volunteer at his church and offered to pay him to keep quiet about their affair. Gary Busey has had his fair share of bad publicity as well: he was arrested for cocaine possession after a near fatal overdose and for spousal abuse in 2001.
     Perhaps the most interesting thing about this upcoming episode is that there has been absolutely no mention of either man's wife. Both women have endured tremendous attention due to their husbands' shortcomings, and it seems to me that this is just another publicity stunt meant to attract interest Busey's and Haggard's slowing careers. Especially in Haggard's case, I would argue that his involvement in the show is due to a need to assert his masculinity: although he has come out as bisexual since his scandal, it appears he is using this television show to prove that he will not disappoint his followers by reverting to homosexual urges. On the contrary, he will live with another man's wife for two weeks to show his dedication to living a heterosexual lifestyle. Do you agree? What do you think Busey stands to gain from this publicity?