When Lorena Bobbitt infamously cut off her husband's penis nearly 26 years ago, her story became a punchline that travelled around the world.

She was an endless source of jokes for late-night television hosts and shock jocks.

"I don't even buy that he was raping her; she's not that great looking," Howard Stern said at the time.

In 1993, John Bobbitt allegedly raped his wife.

During her trial in 1994, Lorena Bobbitt describes how her husband choked her. ( Reuters )

After he fell asleep, Lorena, who maintains that she had endured physical, sexual and emotional violence at the hands of her husband since their wedding in 1989, grabbed a kitchen knife and cut off John's penis.

She drove away from their Virginia house and tossed his penis into a field.

John was later tried and acquitted of rape, while Lorena was found not guilty of mutilation due to insanity. They divorced in 1995.

After his penis was successfully reattached, John starred in several porn films and started a band called The Severed Parts.

Among the jokes, puns and punchlines at Lorena's expense, the truth behind the crime was completely lost.

Now Lorena Gallo, the maiden name she goes by again, is reclaiming her story.

'I can't be held back'

A new four-part documentary, Lorena, produced by Oscar winner Jordan Peele, revisits Ms Gallo's extreme suffering at the hands of her husband and what happens to a woman when her story is taken from her.

For the first time, Ms Gallo is free to discuss what it felt like to have her pain turned into a punchline.

The documentary also asks why the world attacked and mocked a victim of domestic violence.

"I didn't want to teach him a lesson. No, it was survival. Life and death. I was fearing for my life," she said of that night.

Ms Gallo told Sundance Film Festival last year that if her ex-husband offered an apology, she would offer forgiveness, but would never forget.

"If I don't forgive, then it's gonna hold me back, and I can't be held back. I have to go forwards. My mission is to make awareness against this social epidemic," she said.

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Peele says the film is more than just a documentary, but a much-needed conversation "that we should have had years ago".

"You could feel the beginning of a new era in terms of how we talk about sexual abuse and violence," he said recently.

"Much in the same way as it became a circus and this crazy 24-hour news media fiasco, there is an undeniable magnetism to this story.

"It's fascinating, it's interesting, it's a little bit tawdry. And being in that space where you don't know whether to laugh or cry, I think, is a very powerful place to be."

Monica Lewinsky credits the #MeToo movement with helping her overcome her past trauma. ( Reuters: Danny Moloshok )

Monica won't be your punchline anymore

Ms Gallo is not the only woman who had to wait decades to take control of her story.

Monica Lewinsky was a 22-year-old intern when her affair with US president Bill Clinton — the world's most powerful and influential man — began.

The power imbalance was breathtaking in its scope, but until recently, that was brushed aside in favour of a juicy scandal.

Monica Lewinsky was denigrated in the media. ( Supplied )

Ms Lewinsky was universally portrayed as an office floozy, the "other woman" and "easy".

She was ostracised, publicly humiliated and made into a scapegoat for the benefit of Mr Clinton.

"He was my boss. He was the most powerful man on the planet," Lewinsky wrote in Vanity Fair last year.

"He was 27 years my senior, with enough life experience to know better.

"He was, at the time, at the pinnacle of his career, while I was in my first job out of college."

In 2018, Ms Lewinsky took part in her own documentary.

When asked why she would revisit such a painful time of her life, she said: "Throughout history, women have been traduced and silenced. Now, it's our time to tell our own stories in our own words."

Women take back the reins

The reframing of Ms Lewinsky and Ms Gallo's stories has been aided by the #MeToo movement, which has shone a light on abuse, and how powerful men can take advantage of vulnerable women.

Taking back their stories that were consumed for entertainment by the world is a powerful step in them taking back control of their lives.

Monica Lewinsky was labelled a "ditsy, predatory intern" after the affair. ( Reuters )

For a long time, women have been considered accessories to their own stories, allowed to make an appearance only if it suits the frenzied interest of the public, the media and those with a stake in the issue.

Several years after the infamous incident, Ms Gallo established the Lorena Gallo Foundation, and has worked for years as a victim advocate for women.

"I use that name, the Lorena Bobbitt name, to help others," Ms Gallo once said.