The Price of Shame

In the Ted Talk, The Price of Shame, Monica Lewinsky talks about her affair with Bill Clinton. She discusses the horrible connotation that people associated with her name after the affair became publicly known. She talks about how after people found out about her affair with the President of the United States, all the press released put her into bad light. Even though Bill Clinton was talked about poorly, Monica Lewinsky was harassed and scolded way worse. Monica could not show her face in public for a while after the affair was made public knowledge.  The media that was released about the affair refereed to Monica as “The slut in the White House,” “The President’s mistress,” “tramp of the white house,” and more. In the beginning, the media barely recognized Monica Lewinsky by name. They made her seem more as an object to the president than a person.

            In the Ted Talk, Monica talks about how as the female in the affair she was shamed way more than President Clinton. Unfortunately, in her case, many people worldwide shamed her. She talks about how shame has become an industry. People are making money off of someone else’s suffering. Females are often more shamed than males, because women are often seen as weaker. Our society often looks at women as week or less if they are involved in a unique or mis-fitting sexual relationship. However, the male in the relationship is rarely looked at as being in the complete wrong.

            In the article Oppression, by Marilyn Frye, the author talks about how women are often seen as a minority and oppressed in different aspects of their lives.  The author briefly states that in the United States, women especially younger women, are oppressed about their sexual activity. She states how it is unfair for women to be labeled as a “whore” if they sleep with a lot of men, and labeled as “prude” if they are waiting to have sex.