Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist, television personality, fashion designer, and former White House intern.
Anyone who is suffering from shame and public humiliation needs to know one thing: You can survive it. . . You can insist on a different ending to your story. Have compassion for yourself. We all deserve compassion, and to live both online and off in a more compassionate world.
I'm going to the White House to get my presidential kneepads.
I, myself, deeply regret what happened between me and President Clinton. Let me say it again: I. Myself. Deeply. Regret. What. Happened.
When I think of the person that I thought was Bill Clinton, I think he had genuine remorse. When I think of the person that I now see is 100 percent politician, I think he's sorry he got caught.
I try to make very careful decisions about what I choose to do, and it's - I know that unfortunately one of the misperceptions about me, I think, is that I'm sort of a moth to the limelight.
Try and have neutral compassion toward the perpetrator. Step outside the sting of the incident and realize that this person is trying to erase their own inadequacy or unhappiness by transferring it to you. It won't make the incident go away, but it's one thing you can do to reduce the pain.
Women need to support other women, not cut them down. And that goes for recognizable women too.
Feeling alone and unseen can intensify the experience of being harassed, shamed, or bullied.
To mock at a soul in pain is a dreadful thing.
As painful and destructive as they are, the hateful comments allow us to map the underlying beliefs of many people in a way we've never been able to before. It's almost as if all of the negativity and misogyny needs to come to the surface so we can fully understand what it is, and how deep it goes, before we can begin to shift it. Of course, I wish it weren't there.
But, clearly to me, what I've come to see is that that happened because I didn't have enough feelings of self-worth. So that I didn't feel that. . . I was worthy of being number one to a man.
Building a more compassionate society is going to be a bilateral exercise between individuals and the brands that represent their aspirations, their values and their truths. People make brands. If people are compassionate, brands will be compassionate in return.
At one point, I actually, ironically, thought I might go into criminology and work with the FBI.
I would feel a little awkward because of my connection with politics.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't angry some days. But I really have worked hard to put a lot of the anger and disappointment in the past.