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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/11/after-metoo-disinviting-monica-lewinsky-is-old-fashioned-misogyny
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| After #MeToo, disinviting Monica Lewinsky is old-fashioned misogyny | After #MeToo, disinviting Monica Lewinsky is old-fashioned misogyny |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| How would you feel if you were invited to a party and then told not to come because someone you had a relationship with decades ago was going to be attending? A quarter century is long enough for most of us to be civil in those circumstances. But the event planners at Town & Country magazine seemingly didn’t have faith that Monica Lewinsky would be capable of acting like a mature adult in that situation. They disinvited her from an event this week after they found out that Bill Clinton was also planning to attend. | How would you feel if you were invited to a party and then told not to come because someone you had a relationship with decades ago was going to be attending? A quarter century is long enough for most of us to be civil in those circumstances. But the event planners at Town & Country magazine seemingly didn’t have faith that Monica Lewinsky would be capable of acting like a mature adult in that situation. They disinvited her from an event this week after they found out that Bill Clinton was also planning to attend. |
| Magazine apologises to Monica Lewinsky for 'disinvitation' to event | Magazine apologises to Monica Lewinsky for 'disinvitation' to event |
| The party hosts were also not smart enough to remember that it’s a long time since Lewinsky has been silent in the face of insults. On Wednesday, she wrote on Twitter: “Dear world: please don’t invite me to an event (esp one about social change) and – then after i’ve accepted – uninvite me because bill clinton then decided to attend/was invited. it’s 2018. emily post would def not approve.” | The party hosts were also not smart enough to remember that it’s a long time since Lewinsky has been silent in the face of insults. On Wednesday, she wrote on Twitter: “Dear world: please don’t invite me to an event (esp one about social change) and – then after i’ve accepted – uninvite me because bill clinton then decided to attend/was invited. it’s 2018. emily post would def not approve.” |
| dear world:please don't invite me to an event (esp one about social change) and --then after i've accepted-- uninvite me because bill clinton then decided to attend/was invited.it's 2018.emily post would def not approve.✌🏼Me | dear world:please don't invite me to an event (esp one about social change) and --then after i've accepted-- uninvite me because bill clinton then decided to attend/was invited.it's 2018.emily post would def not approve.✌🏼Me |
| When it comes to self-preservation, Lewinsky is a model to us all. After some difficult years following her affair with Bill Clinton, she has emerged as a crucial spokeswoman against bullying and shame. That Lewinsky did not perish under the weight of hundreds of thousands of critical, mocking cable news stories and late-night comedy gags is an achievement in itself. | When it comes to self-preservation, Lewinsky is a model to us all. After some difficult years following her affair with Bill Clinton, she has emerged as a crucial spokeswoman against bullying and shame. That Lewinsky did not perish under the weight of hundreds of thousands of critical, mocking cable news stories and late-night comedy gags is an achievement in itself. |
| Lewinsky is the rare media pariah to not just survive, but to use her notoriety for good. In particular, in the post-#MeToo era, she’s cast a light on how her treatment by the media in the 1990s was a monstrous exercise in misogyny: “The wholesale dissection of a young, unknown woman – me – who, due to legal quarantine, was unable to speak out on her own behalf.” | Lewinsky is the rare media pariah to not just survive, but to use her notoriety for good. In particular, in the post-#MeToo era, she’s cast a light on how her treatment by the media in the 1990s was a monstrous exercise in misogyny: “The wholesale dissection of a young, unknown woman – me – who, due to legal quarantine, was unable to speak out on her own behalf.” |
| Though Lewinsky takes pains to note that her relationship with the president was consensual, it was also “a giant abuse of power”. And yet, in the context of the Town & Country soiree, Lewinsky and not Clinton became the persona non grata. It’s as if a magazine that celebrates the rococo country homes of the rich and famous didn’t get the memo about what people think about sexual misconduct in 2018. | Though Lewinsky takes pains to note that her relationship with the president was consensual, it was also “a giant abuse of power”. And yet, in the context of the Town & Country soiree, Lewinsky and not Clinton became the persona non grata. It’s as if a magazine that celebrates the rococo country homes of the rich and famous didn’t get the memo about what people think about sexual misconduct in 2018. |
| “We apologize to Ms Lewinsky and regret the way the situation was handled,” Town & Country said the morning after, a classic sorry-but-not-sorry approach: the passive voice, the distancing from responsibility by calling it handled. And what was the situation, in any case? Two people who had a consensual relationship two decades ago were going to be at the same party? That didn’t need “handling”, beyond perhaps a double check of the seating chart. | “We apologize to Ms Lewinsky and regret the way the situation was handled,” Town & Country said the morning after, a classic sorry-but-not-sorry approach: the passive voice, the distancing from responsibility by calling it handled. And what was the situation, in any case? Two people who had a consensual relationship two decades ago were going to be at the same party? That didn’t need “handling”, beyond perhaps a double check of the seating chart. |
| Good manners would assume that two adults in that situation would have the capacity of ignoring each other if they happened to find themselves in the same queue for the bar. | Good manners would assume that two adults in that situation would have the capacity of ignoring each other if they happened to find themselves in the same queue for the bar. |
| Alas, this was just a case of old-fashioned misogyny: of protecting a man from the evidence of his past extramarital misdeeds rather than respecting the humanity, and prompt RSVP, of a woman. That’s just plain rude. But it’s also plain bad party-planning. An articulate and resilient woman makes a better companion than a man who preys on his intern any night of the week. | Alas, this was just a case of old-fashioned misogyny: of protecting a man from the evidence of his past extramarital misdeeds rather than respecting the humanity, and prompt RSVP, of a woman. That’s just plain rude. But it’s also plain bad party-planning. An articulate and resilient woman makes a better companion than a man who preys on his intern any night of the week. |
| Jean Hannah Edelstein is a freelance journalist and author who lives and works in New York | Jean Hannah Edelstein is a freelance journalist and author who lives and works in New York |
| Monica Lewinsky | Monica Lewinsky |
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| Bill Clinton | Bill Clinton |
| #MeToo movement | #MeToo movement |
| Feminism | Feminism |
| US politics | US politics |
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