In a new personal essay, Monica Lewinsky has weighed in on the Me Too Movement and the impact it has had on her life.
“Until recently (thank you, Harvey Weinstein), historians hadn’t really had the perspective to fully process and acknowledge that year of shame and spectacle,” Lewinsky wrote in a Vanity Fair article, later adding that the infamous relationship she had with former U.S. President Bill Clinton was not sexual assault, but rather “constituted a gross abuse of power.”
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“The reason this is difficult is that I’ve lived for such a long time in the House of Gaslight, clinging to my experiences as they unfolded in my 20s and railing against the untruths that painted me as an unstable stalker and Servicer in Chief,” she added.
“Given my PTSD and my understanding of trauma, it’s very likely that my thinking would not necessarily be changing at this time had it not been for the #MeToo movement—not only because of the new lens it has provided but also because of how it has offered new avenues toward the safety that comes from solidarity,” Lewinsky continued.
She explains that now, because of the Me Too movement, “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.”
“I’m beginning to entertain the notion that in such a circumstance the idea of consent might well be rendered moot,” Lewinsky continued.
Lewinsky is not the only person to comment on the Me Too movement lately, as many in the film industry have had a lot to say about the impact it is having.
Austrian director Michael Haneke recently took an opposing view when he slammed the “Me Too” movement in an interview, calling it a “witch hunt.”
“This new puritanism colored by a hatred of men, arriving on the heels of the #MeToo movement, worries me,” the Oscar-nominated Haneke said.
“As artists, we’re starting to be fearful since we’re faced with this crusade against any form of eroticism,” he added, according to THR.
While the director does believe that anyone found guilty of abuse or rape should face consequences, he continued, “I find the hysteria and condemnations without any trial totally disgusting.”
Haneke placed blame on the media for “murdered lives and careers in the process” and then condemned the movement as “a witch hunt.”
