The “Biggest Slut” In American History Speaks Out About Slut Shaming

Most of us have regrets. We’re young, excited, and in love with life. We kiss boys and stay out too late. We laugh a little too long and flirt with people who are all wrong for us. We smile and giggle and enjoy all of the attention that being twenty has to offer. We mess up. And we’re not alone in this. If you have any recollection of 1998, Bill Clinton, or a certain “blue dress,” you’ll know who Monica Lewinsky is.

She’s “that women.” The twenty-two-year-old slut. The home wrecker. The other woman.

In 1995, she was a twenty-two-year-old girl with the opportunity of a lifetime. She had managed to land an internship at The White House. And the most exciting part? She got to actually see the president of the United States of America, Bill Clinton, at work everyday. It was a dream come true. And then, she fell in love with her boss.

From 1995 to 1997, Monica had a secret relationship with the president. They talked on the phone late at night and shared their dreams, hopes, and desires. They spoiled each other with gifts and snuck kisses in deserted halls in between meetings. She said he was “sunshine” and he said that blow jobs didn’t count as sex (LOL). At twenty-two, most of us don’t have our shit together. We fall for the wrong people, and we do it without thinking. We take risks and smile, because what’s the worst that could happen?

For Monica Lewinsky, the worst that could happen, happened. The secret of the affair came out. On January 26, 1998, the man she had been in love with declared the famous line in a press conference:

I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.

He did, though. He didn’t have “sex” with her, but he let her go down on him close to ten times. She got her heart broken. The president got impeached (for a second), while Monica went down in American history as a floozy, branded with a scarlet letter. Here she was, a twenty-two-year-old girl who flirted with an older man. A man who had power, who oozed confidence, who made her heart flutter. Once the secret of the affair was released, this man got his job back, but Monica? Monica lost her life.

For close to a decade, she remained quiet. After having to tell the entire world every single humiliating detail of her affair, she hid. Now, years later, she’s finally speaking out. I warn you, however, you will not be able to hold back tears after hearing her passionate, understanding, and completely relevant speech.

In this time of “Greek witch hunting” and a constant stream of cyber-bullying, take a second to let her words sink in. Here’s a woman whose life was destroyed by one choice. She’s been there. She knows the shame. She is forced to go back every day and be reminded of the “worst version of [her]self. A self [she] doesn’t even recognize.”

Most of us were too young to understand what was going on when the scandal went down. But now, as Monica Lewinsky is speaking out, young women like us can deeply empathize. We know what it’s like to look back and deeply regret our decisions. We know what it’s like to have something get out of control so fast that we don’t know how to carry on. We know what shame feels like.

So next time you see a friend passed out, a sister going down the wrong path, or a stranger posting something that should’t be posted – speak up. In the world of technology, our mistakes aren’t only for ourselves. They’re for the entire world. We don’t want to live in a world, terrified of becoming a headline. It’s time to look after ourselves, make smart decisions, and become understanding of mistakes. As Monica says, it’s time to live in a world of compassion..

[via Youtube, Forbes, Washington Post]

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