Lena Dunham has been given attention from feminists and the media for far too long. She rose to fame when her series "Girls" (has anyone ever actually seen it?) was shown on HBO in 2012. She is the writer, producer, and star actress in the show. In addition to creating "Girls", she wrote an essay book titled "Not That Kind Of Girl" in 2014, which quickly rose to #2 on the New York Times Bestseller list. I mean what is she even trying to say in that title? Shouldn't the point of feminism be to accept all types of women? It's absolutely baffling that she profited off of such a book. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Don't worry, though! There are plenty of other reasons to ignore Lena Dunham.
1. The only people of color in her show "Girls" are the nannies and maids. Dunham, when asked about the lack of diversity in her show, claimed that it was an accident. Why does she get away with these things? If a man or less left wing woman even tried to pull something like that they definitely wouldn't be referred to as an "icon".
2. In an effort to support Obama's re-election campaign in 2012, Dunham did an advertisement describing the experience of voting for the first time as similar to "having sex for the first time," according to a blog quoted on The Atlantic. Why does Dunham feel the need to sexualize everything? Wouldn't it look better for women for you to use your platform to showcase your intelligence and empower other women to use theirs when they vote? Why sexualize an experience in life that has more to do with opinion and awareness? When will Dunham allow women to participate in activities with their male counterparts and not have to use their sexuality to feel relevant?
3. She has no idea what to think of her body, and takes everyone on her roller coaster ride of self assurance. In her book, she devotes an entire chapter to her diet diary and obsessive calorie count, but is constantly posting pictures in little to no clothing and screaming that no men think she is attractive because she doesn't look like other woman in the media. News flash: no one does. Still listening? A couple months ago Dunham posted on her "Lenny Letter" online publication that Odell Beckham Jr should be criticized for not thinking she was attractive at the Met Gala. Think I'm joking? Here is an excerpt from her letter:
"The vibe was very much like, ‘Do I want to f--- it? Is it wearing a … yep, it's wearing a tuxedo. I'm going to go back to my cell phone,’” she said. “ It was like we were forced to be together, and he literally was scrolling Instagram rather than have to look at a woman in a bow tie. I was like, ‘This should be called the Metropolitan Museum of Getting Rejected by Athletes."
Anyone else a little nauseous? Again Lena makes something out of nothing simply because she is just that insecure. Please don't misunderstand me, insecurity is normal, especially when you are in the limelight amongst unrealistically beautiful women. However, to constantly promote one thing and preach the other is plain old confusing and you can't get a real message across if you're this unclear every time you voice your opinion. There are so many things wrong with this passage from her letter I don't even know where to start. Be on the lookout for part two of this article where will analyze this passage and many others that have come from Dunham over the years.
In the meantime, please seek out more apt feminist role models and #Geaux #Women
