Monica Lewinsky's Response To A Tweet About The Worst Career Advice People Have Received Is Legendary
If you ask for advice online, you can't really be surprised with the answers you get right?
What if Monica Lewinsky randomly decides to respond?
Over the weekend, Adam Grant, a psychologist and author asked the internet about the worst career advice they've ever received.
What’s the worst career advice you’ve ever received? Mine: (1) Don’t waste your time helping others (2) Drop 90% o… https://t.co/Kc7yibKn0P— Adam Grant (@Adam Grant) 1563028053.0
The query received a lot of great responses from the likes of comic book writers, doctors and marine ecologists. Even the general advice of "Don't quit a job you hate until you find another one!" gets a lot of mileage as bad advice.
However, the winner has to be Ms. Lewinsky, who comes in with a fire response.
@AdamMGrant an internship at the white house will be amazing on your resume. 😳— Monica Lewinsky (@Monica Lewinsky) 1563099324.0
Monica Lewinsky is most famous (infamous?) for having an affair with President Bill Clinton. Clinton then lied under oath about the relationship leading to his impeachment.
I know, I know...
Despite Clinton being Lewinsky's boss and the most powerful man in the world, Lewinsky received a lot of abuse and insults at the hands of the media.
With her great tweet, others shared how impressed they were.
@EricMGarcia @AdamMGrant thanks...— Monica Lewinsky (@Monica Lewinsky) 1563216934.0
@MonicaLewinsky @J_P_Dempsey @AdamMGrant The fact that you're owning it with a sense of humor and perspective speak… https://t.co/XjP69f1erR— CalicoRose (@CalicoRose) 1563197344.0
In 2014, Lewinsky joined Twitter after becoming an activist against cyberbullying. She called herself "patient zero" of online harassment and joined the social media website to spread her word.
Lewinsky has also become a supporter of the #MeToo movement, describing how it has helped her feel less alone.
Her tweet is a great example of how she's owned her old reputation.
@MonicaLewinsky @AdamMGrant You didn’t just win the internet for a day, you OWNED the damn thang🥊… https://t.co/4IOytuuWB8— 🎩katemartbo (@🎩katemartbo) 1563166339.0
@MonicaLewinsky @AdamMGrant https://t.co/1fDaz0oQlE— ChickenBarr (@ChickenBarr) 1563156353.0
@MonicaLewinsky @AdamMGrant Best tweet I have seen today. You definitely win with this— zoltrac (@zoltrac) 1563240885.0
Not everyone was so supportive of Lewinsky.
Despite two decades passing since the scandal she was involved in, some people can't let go of the idea of blaming her. Luckily, people have her back.
While most tweets were very onboard with Lewinsky's joke, the ones that weren't were quickly shut down.
@toronto_larry @MonicaLewinsky @AdamMGrant and of course it's only the fault of the woman who wasn't in a relations… https://t.co/9TuSADKIZU— ℂℍℝ𝕀ℤ𝕃𝕐-ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕋𝕊🎧🐻🎶 (@ℂℍℝ𝕀ℤ𝕃𝕐-ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕋𝕊🎧🐻🎶) 1563227729.0
@wanderl71108724 May you never be in a dodgy situation with an employer who is massively more powerful than you.— Adriano (@Adriano) 1563219677.0
Social media brings us a lot closer to celebrities and content creators. A lot of the time, this backfires, with either celebrities making horrible gaffes, or people harassing their idols.
But sometimes things work out. Sometimes we get hilarious stories about surreal experiences with the rich and famous. Sometimes they give their fans useful advice.
Lewinsky runs an anti-bullying campaign called Click with Compassion. It encourages you to remember there are real people on the other end of the internet and to think before you post.
By contrast it asks the gate keepers, sites like Google, Facebook, and Twitter, to consider changes to their algorithm that encourages positive interactions.
The book 90s Bitch: Media, Culture, and the Failed Promise of Gender Equality, available here, explores these concepts further.
"To understand how we got here, we have to rewind the VHS tape. 90s Bitch tells the real story of women and girls in the 1990s, exploring how they were maligned by the media, vilified by popular culture, and objectified in the marketplace. Trailblazing women like Hillary Clinton, Anita Hill, Marcia Clark, and Roseanne Barr were undermined."
"Newsmakers like Monica Lewinsky, Tonya Harding, and Lorena Bobbitt were shamed and misunderstood. The advent of the 24-hour news cycle reinforced society's deeply entrenched sexism. Meanwhile, marketers hijacked feminism and poisoned girlhood for a generation of young women."
"Today, there are echoes of 90s 'bitchification' nearly everywhere we look. To understand why, we must revisit and interrogate the 1990s—a decade in which female empowerment was twisted into objectification, exploitation, and subjugation."