Warehouse Point

Last spring, I was a D.C. intern. Thanks to the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, almost everyone I met got a silly smirk on their face and thought they would be real original by making some lewd comment about my title. While their comments were understandable, they were also unnecessary and quite annoying to me and most likely every other female interning in our nation’s capitol.

The Condit/Levy scandal has brought new life and new meaning to the words female intern. While Monica Lewinsky may have stereotyped female interns as promiscuous power seekers, Chandra Levy stereotypes them as power holders’ prey. Right?

Wrong. The majority of college-aged women interning in the D.C. area are looking to further their education and careers. We are smart enough to receive a coveted internship position, move to a new location, and function in perhaps the world’s most complex city. Just like our male counterparts, we put in long hours of work that often go unpaid. If we’re smart enough to handle this, believe me, we’re smart enough to not jump on the latest married man regardless of the power or the promises.

There are, of course, exceptions to every rule. Chandra Levy’s choice to become involved with a Congressman has made all female interns in the D.C. area the hot media fodder of late. Both the New York Times and the Washington Post have run stories on what it’s like to be a female interning in the political mecca. The Fox News Channel has aired an exclusive undercover story regarding female interns, as hidden cameras tracked what hidden pressures the city presented.

“The flesh” is now synonymous for incoming female interns thanks to a Sunday New York Times magazine article written by Andrew Sullivan. Sullivan, recalling the days when he was a D.C. intern, describes how female interns he knew were “bowled over by a power differential that is hard to resist.” A Washington Post column describes one intern as having “fashion model features and long legs.” It’s as if the news media assumes young women interning in the D.C. area are fresh meat ready for consumption with no moral compass to guide them in decisions regarding their sexual relationships.

Is it suddenly a news flash that men find young women attractive? Ever since I hit puberty I realized that men looked at me a little differently. I also learned to avoid what could be a potentially dangerous situation-regardless of what environment I was in. When I acquired the title of intern, I did not suddenly become a victim. Taking precautions is a fact of life no matter where you are or what your gender is.

Perhaps the saddest part of the story is how the Levy case will affect future hopeful female interns. After all the media victimization of female interns, parents will be less likely to send their daughters off to the nation’s capitol for internships that often play a pivotal role in shaping professional careers. Male interns, however, will probably continue to flock to Washington with not so much a bat of the eye by their parents or peers.

I returned from my internship in May when the Condit/Levy story broke. Instead of entertaining the once familiar silly comments regarding cigars and dresses, I now receive wide-eyed gasps accompanied by the occasional, “thank God you’re okay!” Sometime soon, I’d like to be viewed as less of a survivor and more as a champion. Hopefully the female-intern-victim stereotype will soon dissipate and the work I did will be looked at seriously enough to overshadow the pedantic title I once wore, which at present seems to always take center stage.

Tags: women attractive