Monica Lewinsky Gave a Really, Really Important TED Talk on Bullying

In a recent issue of The Washington Post, Chris Cillizza, who covers the White House for the Post, writes about reputation management, specifically about cyber-bullying.  He writes:

(But) what I do believe is that there is a line — societally — that shouldn’t be crossed when it comes to how we treat each other. Sure, the anonymity of the Internet makes it incredibly easy to say whatever you want about virtually anyone.  That cloak of anonymity frees you from the responsibility of owning your allegation, providing proof or doing something as simple as coming face-to-face — even electronically — with the person you are sliming.

When it comes to politics, winning can’t be the rationale to excuse this sort of behavior. It’s important to remember that using people as tackling dummies to score political points is ultimately detrimental to what our society should value. It turns people into caricatures, two-dimensional cardboard cutouts rather than fully realized individuals.

To prove his point, Cillizza writes at length about Monica Lewinsky’s recent TED Talk where she spoke at length about perhaps being the first victim of cyber-bullying in that pre-Facebook/Twitter/blog era, stating, “I was branded as a tramp, tart, slut, whore, bimbo and, of course, ‘that woman.’ I was known by many, but actually known by few. I get it. It was easy to forget ‘that woman’ was dimensional and had a soul.”

To read the rest of Chris Cillizza’s piece, click here.

The New York Times Sunday Magazine recently included a thoughtful and terrifically three-dimensional piece on Monica Lewinsky, again, someone you may think you know, but probably do not.  You can read that piece here.

 

Photo Credit:  James Duncan Davidson/TED via Reuters – Washington Post