Current Events > Monica Lewinsky says her relationship with Bill Clinton was not consensual

(+) Yeah! (+)

Says that the power dynamics is a factor that makes proper consent fishy. What say you?

In a new essay for Vanity Fair, Monica Lewinsky said the #MeToo movement has forced her to confront the power dynamics of her 1990s affair with then-President Bill Clinton.

"I am in awe of the sheer courage of the women who have stood up and begun to confront entrenched beliefs and institutions. But as for me, my history, and how I fit in personally? I'm sorry to say I don't have a definitive answer yet on the meaning of all of the events that led to the 1998 investigation; I am unpacking and reprocessing what happened to me," Lewinsky wrote in a piece published Sunday.

Lewinsky's affair with Clinton was made public during the 1998 investigation conducted by independent counsel Ken Starr. The affair led to Clinton's eventual impeachment for lying under oath about the relationship, among other statements. Clinton was later acquitted.

Lewinsky, who disclosed that she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the ordeal, said the #MeToo movement began to change her mind about the affair and the subsequent investigation.

She acknowledged that her past descriptions of the affair, which emphasized that the relationship was consensual, didn't address the dynamics of consent -- namely that Lewinsky was a White House intern in her early 20s and Clinton was one of the most powerful men in the world.

"I now see how problematic it was that the two of us even got to a place where there was a question of consent. Instead, the road that led there was littered with inappropriate abuse of authority, station, and privilege. (Full stop.)" she wrote.

Her full article is worth reading if you have the time. She doesn't come right out and make the claim made in the topic title, acknowledging that it's a complicated matter
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/02/monica-lewinsky-in-the-age-of-metoo

Just four years ago, in an essay for this magazine, I wrote the following: Sure, my boss took advantage of me, but I will always remain firm on this point: it was a consensual relationship. Any abuse came in the aftermath, when I was made a scapegoat in order to protect his powerful position. I now see how problematic it was that the two of us even got to a place where there was a question of consent. Instead, the road that led there was littered with inappropriate abuse of authority, station, and privilege. (Full stop.)

Now, at 44, Im beginning (just beginning) to consider the implications of the power differentials that were so vast between a president and a White House intern. Im beginning to entertain the notion that in such a circumstance the idea of consent might well be rendered moot. (Although power imbalancesand the ability to abuse themdo exist even when the sex has been consensual.)

But its also complicated. Very, very complicated. The dictionary definition of consent? To give permission for something to happen. And yet what did the something mean in this instance, given the power dynamics, his position, and my age? Was the something just about crossing a line of sexual (and later emotional) intimacy? (An intimacy I wantedwith a 22-year-olds limited understanding of the consequences.) He was my boss. He was the most powerful man on the planet. He was 27 years my senior, with enough life experience to know better. He was, at the time, at the pinnacle of his career, while I was in my first job out of college. (Note to the trolls, both Democratic and Republican: none of the above excuses me for my responsibility for what happened. I meet Regret every day.)

This (sigh) is as far as Ive gotten in my re-evaluation; I want to be thoughtful. But I know one thing for certain: part of what has allowed me to shift is knowing Im not alone anymore. And for that I am grateful.

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I feel like this was already a commonly accepted fact about the whole situation
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Metro2 posted...

Says that the power dynamics is a factor that makes proper consent fishy. What say you?

Yeah, I can get behind this - especially when "power dynamics" is referring to the literal president of the United States of America.
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So glad we didn't get another Clinton in the white house
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Any time there's a power dynamic where the man has more power than the woman, it's not consensual
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FomTumbled posted...

So glad we didn't get another Clinton in the white house

Nope just someone about to do much worse.
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Mike pence rule is the way forward.

Attention whore's gonna attention whore I guess
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"so glad we didn't get the person married to a sexual predator" say the people who voted in a sexual predator
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Newhopes posted...

Mike pence rule is the way forward.

It's actually the Billy Graham rule!
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mario2000 posted...

"so glad we didn't get the person married to a sexual predator" say the people who voted in a sexual predator

Got em
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If you can prove Trump is a sexual predator you would and he would be out of the white house YESTERDAY
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wasn't one of my best got ems but it did the job

i could have dealt a better one if i felt like it
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FomTumbled posted...

If you can prove Trump is a sexual predator you would and he would be out of the white house YESTERDAY

No, his supporters would just love him more, call him "alpha"
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Yet Clinton supporters always deflect when Bill is brought up
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Antifar posted...

acknowledging that it's a complicated matter

but its not

she literally went out of her way to seduce him at every turn. She initiated everything up to the point of cheating. Clinton just rolled with it because he was a horndog.
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FomTumbled posted...

If you can prove Trump is a sexual predator you would and he would be out of the white house YESTERDAY

"I'm going to take Lewinsky's statement at face value and use it as a Clinton gotcha while ignoring Trump saying how easy it is for him to just grab women by the pussy. Take that libs!"
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A blown out attention whore tries to get another fifteen minutes twenty year later? Color me shocked.

Next up, a new study shocks the world by announcing that water is, in fact, wet! Turn in at eleven to find out more!
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>literally a 5 karma alt
>literally getting responses
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A lot of this went down when I was a kid, but I pretty clearly remember this joint being Monica's deal. She seduced Bill, not the other way around, right?

Chicken_Butt posted...

A lot of this went down when I was a kid, but I pretty clearly remember this joint being Monica's deal. She seduced Bill, not the other way around, right?

Doesn't matter anymore.
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These situations are so fucked since power is a turn on for most women and an excuse for being taken advantage of. It's a complete failsafe on the womens side >_>
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Didn't she brag about the affair to Linda Tripp? Correct me if I'm wrong but I remember that being how the whole thing started. This doesn't seem like something someone would do if they were doing it against their will.
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Fucking someone in power is part of the appeal. I've had teachers and bosses I wanted to bang mostly because I found their position to be attractive.
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Chicken_Butt posted...

A lot of this went down when I was a kid, but I pretty clearly remember this joint being Monica's deal. She seduced Bill, not the other way around, right?

very much so and the fact she's trying to latch onto this movement is disgusting

needs more fame apparently
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Consent can be withdrawn at any time
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PlsGodDontBanMe posted...

Chicken_Butt posted...

A lot of this went down when I was a kid, but I pretty clearly remember this joint being Monica's deal. She seduced Bill, not the other way around, right?

very much so and the fact she's trying to latch onto this movement is disgusting

needs more fame apparently

Pretty pathetic, honestly... this is where the real story is.

EndOfDiscOne posted...

Any time there's a power dynamic where the man has more power than the woman, it's not consensual

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Just avoid women in the work place and only interact for business reasons, problem solved.

EndOfDiscOne posted...

Consent can be withdrawn at any time

That is what some younger woman told her after talking to her recently

She was only 22 at the time. Can you imagine being front and center in the news for years because of something that happened when you were 22?
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Man she was so fucking ugly for being just 22. Bill has no taste.
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username191 posted...

She was only 22 at the time. Can you imagine being front and center in the news for years because of something that happened when you were 22?

Not "something that happened". You make it sound like Bill came flying out of nowhere and hit her like a freight train. In reality she made it happen. She made those choices. She wasn't pressured, she was doing the pressuring. She wanted that Presidential D so she could reap the benefits.

My dad seems to think the republicans put her up to it. For all the attention whoring she's done over the years that wouldn't be surprising.
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yeah im calling bs. there is a power dynamic that is true, but its not rape, it still consentual sex.
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This really is proof that Democrats can do no wrong. You guys are something else.
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so is it literally to sleep with someone of higher standing than you without it being rape? :v Like, I could understand if Bill pressured Monica and she could have lost of her job if she didn't go along with it, but she was flirting with him!

How are people supposed to sleep their way to the top anymore if it's rape now?
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OpheliaAdenade posted...

How are people supposed to sleep their way to the top anymore if it's rape now?

Why is this a desirable thing in society?
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Anteaterking posted...

OpheliaAdenade posted...

How are people supposed to sleep their way to the top anymore if it's rape now?

Why is this a desirable thing in society?

because you get to have sex and get to the top?
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Metro2 posted...

Says that the power dynamics is a factor that makes proper consent fishy. What say you?

Absolutely 100% agree. You should not be soliciting sex from people that work for you. You should double not solicit sex from people who work for you while you're the fucking president of the united states.
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Alexanaxela posted...

Anteaterking posted...

OpheliaAdenade posted...

How are people supposed to sleep their way to the top anymore if it's rape now?

Why is this a desirable thing in society?

because you get to have sex and get to the top?

it is a lost art nowadays. Few people can actually sleep their way to the top. Most end up just sleeping their way to the middle. :/
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creativerealms posted...

FomTumbled posted...

So glad we didn't get another Clinton in the white house

Nope just someone about to do much worse.

I'm a hardcore leftist and Trump is a far better president than Clinton would ever be. He destroyed the TPP, while Clinton would have signed the TPP.

Is the statute of limitations coming up or something?
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Further down the slippery slope we go! Now "yes" doesn't even mean "yes" any more....everybody's a potential rapist!
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SideshowBob311 posted...

Further down the slippery slope we go! Now "yes" doesn't even mean "yes" any more....everybody's a potential rapist!

...have you been in a coma for the past five or six years?

said the #MeToo movement began to change her mind about the affair

i think this is the most important part. Before she agreed that it was consensual but now over 20 years later she has decided to change her mind about it being consensual
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Alexanaxela posted...

said the #MeToo movement began to change her mind about the affair

i think this is the most important part. Before she agreed that it was consensual but now over 20 years later she has decided to change her mind about it being consensual

So... ex post facto "rape" then?