File under: Things I Had Not Previously Considered: Roundup: Monica Lewinsky and Feminism
That link is an interesting collection current feminists looking back at the Monica Lewinksy scandal.
I was 17 when that whole thing went down (phrasing!) (sorry), and it has never, not once, occurred to me to think about it in any other terms than a political scandal. I was certainly aware of the scandal at the time, but I’ve never thought of the impact that could come from narrative of it’s reporting:
To look back on the specifics now is mind-blowing. The Wall Street Journal referred to Lewinsky – in print – as a “little tart.” New York Magazine reported that, as an adolescent, Lewinsky had spent two summers at fat camp, where she “paid particular attention to the boys.” (Code word: Slut.) Maureen Dowd won a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of Lewinsky, in which she called her a “ditzy, predatory White House intern” and “the girl who was too tubby to be in the high school ‘in’ crowd,” among other ugly caricatures. Fox News actually released a poll investigating whether the public thought Lewinsky was an “average girl” or a “young tramp looking for thrills.” Fifty four percent rated her a tramp.
Ohhhhh my goodness. My 14 year old self did NOT pick up on any of that, and WOW. I am so PISSED. UGH UGH UGH. Gah, or maybe my 14 year old self DID pick up on it, subconsciously, or at least that TYPE of narrative, and huh, my own reaction to certain life events is just that much more understandable, suddenly.
WHOOOA
Eeesssh.
This was most interesting to me: “The media’s obsession with Lewinsky stole the narrative of Bill Clinton’s history of alleged sexual harassment from people like Paula Jones and Kathleen Willey, who were less enthused by his attention.”