I just heard a couple of CNN commentators discussing Bill’s comment on the affair to be released in some up coming documentary. It was questioned (tweeted) by someone as to what has Bill Clinton done to make things right. Monica responded to the tweet , “thankyou”.
That just galls me. I still remember in the official report that the affair all started when Monica, then 25 years old, 7 years after becoming of age to vote, bent over and lifted up her skirt to show her bare ass to Bill Clinton as she was leaving the office.
My view is that she is responsible for her own actions. She trespassed on Hillary for her own reasons. I would say the same about any 21 year old man who just attempted to seduce a 50 year old married woman.
As for Bill Clinton, his victim is his wife, and every indication over the years would suggest that he did make things right with Hillary.
Part of the reason that this bothers me is that I am a supporter of the me too movement, but when someone on CNN brings up the me too movement in connection with this affair, it suggests that women are always the victim when an improper sexual encounter occurs between the couple as if women are the weaker sex.
“Slut” is a misogynistic slur that should be banished from the language of decent people, IMO.
Since she was an adult, and according to her, all of her actions were consensual (IIRC), I don’t know if she’s a victim of Bill Clinton, though the extreme power differential makes that muddled, in my view. Maybe or maybe not a victim of Bill Clinton, but she was definitely a victim. She became a punchline for thousands of shattering, misogynistic jokes that prevented her from having any kind of normal and decent life for many years.
#MeToo is relevant to Monica Lewinsky because society took a continuous, streaming crap on her that lasted for a decade or more, for the “crime” of being a young woman with sexual desire who made the kind of small and personal mistake (having intimate encounters with an older married person who had power over their career) that a very large proportion of young people make. It’s not so much about what Bill Clinton did (though IMO he did treat her like crap when the scandal became public), but about what society did, and society treated her like garbage, when she didn’t deserve anything like this at all. Very, very relevant to #MeToo – the movement is fundamentally about how we as a society treat women and girls (as well as how we treat victims and survivors of sexual assault, rape, and related crimes).
She’s probably not a victim of Bill’s, but she is a victim of cruel public opinion. She isn’t a ‘slut’, and I find it disgusting it’s a word you even used at all. All she is ‘guilty’ of is returning the sexual gestures of a married man. That’s it. It’s not illegal. You can argue morals all day, but maybe - maybe - you should reserve just a tad bit more of the judgement for Bill. Y’know, the only one of them out of the two that was already married.
While the guy in question had no power over me, I can feel sympathy for Monica because I’ve kind of been there. An online friend I really enjoyed gaming with initiated a lot of heavy flirting. He was married. I knew he was, but my impression was that his wife and him were no longer close (there’s a lot of backstory I don’t feel I need to add). I really, really enjoyed the attention and the affection. He eventually visited me in my home state, and while it certainly wasn’t a Bill/Monica thing (we didn’t sleep together), it ended badly, and the guilt I felt was incredible.
Do I regret it? Yeah. Was it morally wrong? I’d say so. Would I deserve a public lashing? No. I’d say my only crime was poor judgement.
There is no such thing as a “slut,” so fuck you very much for that.
It was not Monica’s job to protect Bill’s marriage and it takes two to tango so he’s the culpable one there. And in no way did she deserve the incredibly public drubbing she got nor the betrayal by a person she thought was a friend nor does anyone deserve to have their sex life dragged into the public sphere in such a manner–especially a person who was not, herself, a public entity. That being said, she’s handled the whole mess way better than either Bill or Hillary and is a very cool and stable person these days.
Does either one have to come out of this looking good? Seducing your boss is not cool, and having sex with your subordinate is not cool either. Everybody knows that.
Now, if Bill Clinton wanted to bang a different woman who didn’t work for him at the White House every night, that slutty behaviour would have been totally fine, and only his and Hillary’s private business. Same goes for Monica Lewinsky.
She herself has said (at least used to say, I have no idea if she has kept that line post #metoo), that she was the pursuer.
I don’t think she was a slut or victim. She was a dumb kid who did something stupid.
Bill Clinton was the older more mature party. He must take most of the blame. He should have rebuffed her.
Agree with iiandyiiii. Even if the very first move was by Ms. Lewinsky, Pres. Clinton should have not only said “No!”, but he should have had Ms. Lewinsky laterally reassigned. The power differential alone makes any relationship problematic, regardless of who started what. And the fallout was especially heinous. Just consider how Ms. Lewinsky was the butt of every sex joke for the next 1/2 dozen years, give or take, and compare that to the light touch Mrs. Trump has gotten (and I’m not talking about the times she’s taken to task when she rails against bullying). They’ve both been attacked, but Ms. Lewinsky had it far, far worse. First Ladies Clinton and Obama were attacked far more viciously and maliciously than Mrs. Trump. (And before certain ignoramuses chime in, I am well aware Mrs. Trump has been attacked; I’m talking about the ridiculous difference in quantity of attacks.)
She is considered a victim because of the power dynamic.
As an intern, Bill was her boss. When a male boss has an affair with a female subordinate, the subordinate is always the victim, whether she is “willing” or not. The argument goes that she, as a subordinate, is not truly “free” to consent.
I am inclined to think the Ms. Lewinsky did make one fundamental mistake.
Historically, it is the responsibility of all parties engaged in a potentially scandalous affair to keep their mouths shut.
Bill Clinton at least, engaged in one of the most potentially praiseworthy reasons to commit perjury. He lied to protect the reputation of a lady. Pity the lady wasn’t similarly inclined.
She was treated unbelievably bad in the hearings and was the but of an ungodly amount of terrible jokes.
By now the only one alive at the time who shouldn’t be embarrassed hearing her name is ms. Lewinsky herself. In retrospect she showed enormous restraint and class throughout the whole ordeal.
Calling her (or even questioning if she is) a slut in 2020 is definitely not a good look.
Not only was he her boss, he was also more than twice her age. Please tell me how it would it would be “her fault” and how “she seduced him” if she’d been, say fourteen and he was forty one–would that squicky little argument still fly? Because that’s the kind of age disparity we’re talking here and that’s leaving out the power disparity between an intern and the fucking president. HIS FAULT, not hers.
I agree with this statement. She had the misfortune of doing something phenomenally stupid in a very public forum. And yes, she should’ve thought of that and the potential consequences her actions might have. But she didn’t. And to place the blame squarely on Lewinsky is unfair and completely ignores the fact that a) Bill Clinton cheated on his wife, b) was way older and c) arguably the most powerful man in the nation.
I agree that that doesn’t necessarily make her a victim but it’s Employee Relations 101 that that power differential (particularly one that large) automatically creates an opportunity for abuse or perceived abuse and the “boss” needs to shut that shit down immediately.
The imbalance of authority was far beyond even a standard employer/employee relationship.
If what he said is true and she did start it, surely he omitted any detail of whatever flirting had gone on before to give her the idea that he would be receptive to such a thing.
I was just disgusted that the whole thing was anybody’s business except for Hillary’s. No, the nation didn’t need to treat this with the scrutiny associated with British tabloids.
Absolutely not Bill’s victim. The power differential doesn’t even enter into it because she had announced her intent to eat his chowder before ever setting foot in The White House. She wasn’t seduced or induced, by all accounts it was entirely her idea and Bill was simply amenable to it after a bit of signaling. She became a victim of The Republican Party, who were happy to use her to get at Clinton.
I don’t recall how the story got out. But I doubt Bill said anything, so it seems like she told someone. If so, then Bill becomes the victim and she needs to apologize to him.