# Monica Lewinski, slut or victim ? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 6, 2020, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022 "2020-03-06T17:40:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/81 "2020-03-09T01:47:04Z")
AFAICT the only one calling her a slut is some redpill moron who thinks he’s crafted some amazing gotcha against #metoo. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/82 "2020-03-09T02:00:04Z")
Could she be a victim of her sluttiness? Is Bill Clinton a manwhore? ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/83 "2020-03-09T02:57:17Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > AFAICT the only one calling her a slut is some redpill moron who thinks he’s crafted some amazing gotcha against #metoo. I think slut’s a pretty good appellation for someone that deliberately goes hunting the scalp of a married man, And I would be just as happy to apply it to a man that does the reverse - there’s no need for it to be gender specific term ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/84 "2020-03-09T03:09:59Z")
I remember hearing at the time that she went to DC to “hunt big game” and had her eye, at one time, on George Stephanopolis. Don’t know if this is actually true or Clintonian disinformation. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/85 "2020-03-09T03:14:42Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > I think slut’s a pretty good appellation for someone that deliberately goes hunting the scalp of a married man, > > And I would be just as happy to apply it to a man that does the reverse - there’s no need for it to be gender specific term Make it more than one redpill moron then. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/86 "2020-03-09T03:46:23Z")
What makes it ok to deliberately set out to get someone to cheat on their partner? What is the appropriate term that you would apply to such a person? Or would you congratulate them for their success? Note - a person that cheats is just as bad ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/87 "2020-03-09T05:15:37Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > What makes it ok to deliberately set out to get someone to cheat on their partner? > What is the appropriate term that you would apply to such a person? > Or would you congratulate them for their success? > Note - a person that cheats is just as bad A person who cheats is worse. Monica never made a promise to anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/88 "2020-03-09T06:27:24Z")
Neither – although I don’t have a very high opinion of her. She seems more like a total dumbass. If anyone was a slut, it was Bill. But that was Hillary’s problem, not the public’s. > [@Grrr](#): > > Keep in mind, just because I don’t think she Bill’s victim doesn’t mean I think ANY of this was okay. > > Bill should have been booted from the WH for that nonsense and Monica should have been booted from the internship program as well. > > This wasn’t sexual harassment. These were two people doing something they are BOTH well old enough to know better than to do. Do you know how many presidents we’d have had to kick out of office throughout history if that were the standard? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/89 "2020-03-09T06:58:07Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > What makes it ok to deliberately set out to get someone to cheat on their partner? > What is the appropriate term that you would apply to such a person? > Or would you congratulate them for their success? > Note - a person that cheats is just as bad How do you still have a hard-on from calling someone a slut for a indiscretion they committed in the '90? Is your sex life that bad? Are you so desperate to deflect attention from the pussy-grabbing/porn star paying occupant of the WH? What the fuck is your problem? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/90 "2020-03-09T07:25:34Z")
> [@TheCuse](#): > > Linda Tripp (the whistleblower) was a Republican? She’s the one who dragged out into the open. It appears that she was working in the Bush Whitehouse; Clinton staff were not especially enthusiastic about her, so they sent her off to work in Pentagon PR. She does not seem to have been a particularly savory character. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/91 "2020-03-09T07:58:17Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > How do you still have a hard-on from calling someone a slut for a indiscretion they committed in the '90? > > Is your sex life that bad? > Are you so desperate to deflect attention from the pussy-grabbing/porn star paying occupant of the WH? > What the fuck is your problem? what the fuck is your problem? I don’t know what world you live in, but in my world cheating is not ok and neither is going trophy hunting for a married man. that Clinton was a jerk doesn’t excuse her behaviour. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/92 "2020-03-09T08:56:19Z")
In the world I live in it is none of your business what consenting adults do behind closed doors. Get a life. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/93 "2020-03-09T10:24:31Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > BTW I’m a 69 year old Canadian who is a huge fan of Hillary and I will go to the grave thinking America and the world missed a major opportunity to establish an intelligent and empathetic leader to build on the Obama legacy. Its so fucked up now. Why are you so worried about her then? She wasn’t blowing Chretien, or did I miss something during that scandal. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/94 "2020-03-09T10:40:51Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Anyway, for anyone looking to name the villain in the Case of the Semen-Stained Dress, neither Clinton nor Lewinsky is the correct answer. The correct answer is Judge Kenneth Starr and his Gang of Kleptocratic Hypocrites. Bingo. Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky were adults who had a consensual relationship. But by outing her, Ken Starr did tremendous damage to Lewinsky’s life. He is the one who victimized Lewinsky, not Bill Clinton. He clearly regarded her as merely collateral damage in his hunt for something to bring down Clinton’s presidency. Has he ever apologized to her? I’d bet big money that the answer is ‘No.’ ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/95 "2020-03-09T12:48:59Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > It appears that she was working in the Bush Whitehouse; Clinton staff were not especially enthusiastic about her, so they sent her off to work in Pentagon PR. She does not seem to have been a particularly savory character. She was a member of the deep state? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/96 "2020-03-09T12:52:20Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky were adults who had a consensual relationship. It seems to me that you do not understand the concept of power over a subordinate. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/97 "2020-03-09T13:03:25Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > This comment is so off the mark I’m beginning to understand how some people are equipped to actually buy the bullshit that Donald Trump tries to sell. > > If you fucking read the op with comprehension you might realize that I responded to a **recent** tweet by Monica where she responds to a tweet criticizing Clinton for not making things right with her. Well how about she makes things right with Hillary!! Hillary is the victim here. > > I grew up learning that we are all responsible for our own actions and that men and women are equal. None of these values appear behind many of the comments I’m reading here. > I am not republican > BTW I’m a 69 year old Canadian who is a huge fan of Hillary and I will go to the grave thinking America and the world missed a major opportunity to establish an intelligent and empathetic leader to build on the Obama legacy. Its so fucked up now. It has nothing to do with being “off the mark.” You used the word “slut.” This is a word that decent people don’t use, but is common in misogynist circles, and in particular Republicans going after women. Sure, you admitted you were wrong to do use it, so that’s great. But you still have to expect to take your lumps for doing it. Especially since you kinda soft-pedaled your apology. I’m not trying to be mean at all here, BTW. I’m just pointing out that what they said is reasonable inference if they didn’t read your apology. “Slut” really is considered that shitty of a term to use. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/98 "2020-03-09T13:15:32Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > what the fuck is your problem? > I don’t know what world you live in, but in my world cheating is not ok and neither is going trophy hunting for a married man. > that Clinton was a jerk doesn’t excuse her behaviour. To me, it seems the problem is that you defended the word “slut,” which most of us know as a term used to attack women for enjoying sex. That made you come off as misogynist. It appears the word you actually want is “cheater.” I definitely can agree with that term, as it takes two to cheat. As long as both of them knew that Hillary didn’t approve, they’re both cheaters. Still, the reaction to the public for her being a cheater was overblown. And it assumes something we don’t necessarily know: were Bill and Hillary in an open relationship? A lot of people assumed they were, even before Lewinksi entered the picture. And, even if they weren’t, it matters whether Bill told Monica they were. BTW, my morals are that you can have sex with someone for whatever reason you want as long as all parties (which includes any committed partners) are in on it. So if she wanted a “trophy” and both Bill and Hillary were okay with that, then it would be acceptable. If only Bill was okay with that, then it was cheating on his behalf, and on hers if she knew. Yet, even then, I say it’s overblown. It’s really an issue for them. The person Monica potentially harmed was Hillary, not the US public. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/99 "2020-03-09T13:21:37Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > It seems to me that you do not understand the concept of power over a subordinate. Is there **any** indication that Clinton pressured her into the relationship? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022/100 "2020-03-09T13:29:47Z")
I’ve got to concur with the sentiment of many in this thread that ‘slut’ is a misogynistic word. A man who has sex with a lot of different women is a ‘stud,’ but a woman who has sex with a lot of different men is a ‘slut.’ The word used to describe male promiscuity is very positive, while the word used to describe female promiscuity is very denigrating. The very different valuation of the same activity depending on gender should not be something that we are preserving here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monica-lewinski-slut-or-victim/849022.md?page=6)