This week, Lena did some unconventional promotion for her book, Not That Kind of Girl. She did a series of “Ask Lena” YouTube videos where she read out questions submitted to her by fans (?) and answered them. I watched a couple of the videos and I was kind of meh on it. I mean, it’s not that Lena was giving bad advice or anything and I actually think it’s a smart marketing technique, but overall… Lena bugs. She claims that when she was at her thinnest – about 135 lbs – she never “got laid” at all because she was so food obsessed and “When I was at my biggest, and I was running around Brooklyn in a romper, it was raining men.” Sure. She also talks about weird sex and all of that. She also talked about all of that stuff with People Mag:
It’s not always easy being Lena Dunham. As the it-girl actress and Girls creator reveals in her new collection of personal essays, Not That Kind of Girl, she battled severe anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder as a child – and, she tells PEOPLE, she still wakes up every day with a certain sense of dread.
“It’s like, ‘Oh, you again?’ ” says Dunham, 28. “I really love my life, but I’ve kind of worn anxiety grooves into my brain. It just doesn’t always sound good in there.”
Unhappiness about her body was often part of the mix, despite the ease with which she undresses for the camera.
When I got out of college I thought, ‘What am I gonna do? No one’s gonna hire me, I’m a fat girl,'” she says.
She devotes a chapter in her new book to the obsessive food journal she kept in an attempt to lose weight as she started shooting for her HBO show’s first season. (She also talks about those extreme dieting days in one of twelve book-trailer videos she’s posted on YouTube.)
“My food intake was a hard thing to share publicly,” she says. “A lot of my life and work is sort of about not succumbing to [those pressures], so it’s a little painful to go, ‘Oh but look, there was a time where this dominated every moment of every day.’ ”
Her eating was so restricted that she ended up “in the hospital with crazy stomach pains. It was basically revealed that I’d been just drinking laxative tea and coffee and smoking cigarettes and then eating weird foods at weird hours. I really messed myself up,” she says.
All that changed, Dunham says, thanks to her “incredibly supportive boyfriend,” Fun.’s Jack Antonoff, as well as to “getting busy and realizing that food was fuel” and simply getting older.
“I really feel good with my size now,” she says. “I know when I say that people are like, ‘mm hmm’, but I just do! It used to be when I went into a room with all thin women I felt like, what’s wrong with me? Now I just feel special.”
I know we’re supposed to treat every eating disorder like it’s a huge, life-changing deal (which it can be but not in every case) but I’ve always thought that many, many young women go through a “phase” in their teens or early 20s where they, like, experiment with an eating disorder. I’m not promoting that or saying it’s a good thing, I’m just saying that I had a really messed up relationship with food and my body around the age of 16, but I outgrew it and I think a lot of young women are the same – they outgrow their teenage disorders. I think the same thing happened with Lena. What bugs me is that Lena is basically saying that she doesn’t have disordered eating now because she has a boyfriend. THAT is a horrible message.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Is she saying that? Or is she saying that accepted herself and found someone who loves her for her, non-stick-thinness et al?
ETA in regards to Kaiser’s last remark, not the question in the title. In case it wasn’t obvious.
That’s how I read it, too (the self-acceptance and person who loves her for her).
All I can say is I had a really horrible night, didn’t get much sleep (family drama) and then I came here and saw Lena in that skirt posing as some sort of twee half human-half Muppet ball of Dutch Boy angst. It made me smile.
I’m still smiling …
So for that Lena …I thank you.
Agreed. That dress is awesome. Had me smiling too.
I guess it doesn’t really matter either way, as long as she takes the self-acceptance that she learned here into her next relationship, if there is one.
The potential problem with coming to a level of self-acceptance based on someone else’s approval is that if things don’t work out in that relationship, you’re back to square one.
But as I said above, if Lena takes what she’s learned in this relationship with her then it could be a really good thing for her. Plus who knows…maybe she’ll marry the guy.
I don’t think she’s necessarily at square one if she and this guy break up. Like you said, if she takes what she’s learned she will hopefully not settle for a future partner who will cause her slide back into self-loathing patterns.
Is your username sometimes OldKitten? Or is that a different person?
Sometimes she’s the OPPKitten too. You down with that?
LOL. The other day I was thinking how insightful and fact-rich all her comments are. Then today, thinking same thing, and was going to write a compliment about that, but wait…different username! I was all sorts of confused. 🙂
Sounds like self acceptance to me too.
She got a boyfriend, endorphines started shooting out more and she became less focused on her body image/eating habits.
The boyfriend triggered the endorphines so it’s not too far of a jump to say she got a boyfriend and got healthy.
Kitten is the Elusive Cateuse. 😉
Made me laugh, Tiffany.
Thank you, thank you very much 😉
While not a fan, I fully accept Lena but can’t accept that dress…
I like her. There… I said it.
Guffaw. I kind of do too, especially since she is so reviled. I do not watch her show, though.
She’s wearing my ombré Kool-Aid built in pass out dress again, and that I love.
Kiddo, watch Tiny Furniture, then let’s discuss Lena again.
Was it good? Or did you mean to literally watch tiny furniture?
AM I getting a doll house? YAY.
Now that you mention it, I would like to send you a dollhouse and I do want you to watch it all day. I will also send a box of kittens, a cardboard cutout of MM, and a couple of fake boobs so you can peacefully relax whilst rubbing some furry getaway.
No seriously, it’s a movie Lena made, and it’s very Lena-ish.
Haha The fact she’s so reviled makes me almost like her by default. It’s the contrarion in me.
Me too.
WORD. she’s fabulous.
There is something about her that really bugs me. She seems like such a hypocrite at times. As for her show, I really don’t get the hype
Ditto,but the one thing that I completely agree with is that weight loss will happen if you stay busy and think of food as fuel. I think many people gain weight when they say DIET because then their focus is on food and nothing else.
It sounds like her boyfriend gives her the security to relax and to be herself. Her boyfriend sounds really great. I love his music from his new group the Bleachers.
That’s the quality of a hipster.
Although, I have a hipster friend. He was a hipster long before hipsters were a thing. Seems more genuine.
Ugh. I can relate to food issues. I tend to eat my feelings at times. Not always, but during extreme emotion – I either over celebrate when I’m happy, or over carb when I’m down. After a bad day at work, a damn good pasta and a glass of wine can be bliss. I just need to start working in more exercise in combination with it, really.
I’m at my heaviest now, and thankfully I have a husband who is like “You look amazing.” and who legitimately seems to mean it, because a lot of the celebrity women he likes are of the curvier/heavier variety. BUT at the same time, I’m sure he’d be just as happy if I shed some weight too. But he’s never made me feel like I should ever have to do that. He’s just happy to be with me – so I guess I’m lucky that way. I don’t feel pressure from outside sources, so much as I do from myself. So if I were to lose weight – it’d be for me. Not for someone else.
Oooh, spag bol and a glass of red wine – that is one of the best things in the world. Your hubs sounds like a good guy, but he’s lucky as well – you sound pretty aware of your body and any issues you might have with food. I have been everywhere from super fit to super heavy and I have really issues with being aware of what my body is telling me – from pain to fatigue to you’re not hungry, you’re bored – to even what my body is – seriously, I have lost weight and been wearing clothes 2 sizes too big and not even thought about it. Anyway. all I wanted to say was, you do you.
Hahaha thanks, Janey. I’ve been in the phase of wearing clothes too big because that’s just what I got used to buying before losing weight. I had two instances in that time period of shop workers tell me to go down a size or two – and I just wasn’t thinking that if I’d lost weight I could fit into smaller clothes. At this point, I just try to dress in a way that works with my body type, and not stress too much. Work in some extra exercise where I can, and work on feeling good. I’ve hit the point where I just find it exhausting to worry too much about numbers when I should be looking at energy levels, and things like that. I’m mellowing haha. High school I was super self-conscious, but now it’s like meh- I feel alright and am generally happy, so that’s the main thing.
It makes your face look younger to have some weight so if you do decide to lose don’t go too far because it can age a person to loose it in the face and boobs – learned this the hard way. For fun excercise – a good idea my sister teaches is to carry a back pack instead of a purse – it straightens the back and develops the abs – carry groceries and library books – make sure you pack it properly as well and walks are great – with a little comfortably added weight to the back backpack, you get more out of walking with the same effort – and it can be good for the bones. Supportive shoes are a must.
I cannot deal with that “face” she makes all the time. That mouth breathing thing she does. I just can’t!
she could have the body of a supermodel but her face and personality would turn me off
her body that she keeps harping on is the least offensive thing about her
Thanks Lisa: I agree 🙂 ,
I have two nieces who are intelligent, bright, and cool young women and they would not waste their time on her “talented and “intelligently” written scripts or her show. It is about taste and no one in my family is impressed.
Nepotism and connections opened the door and her “talent” got her through 🙂
Yeah I agree. I can eat now because I have a man is a terrible message. Here’s what bugs me about Lena; her general attitude. She has this entitled, smarter than you, eyeroll behavior. It’s like she froze at sixteen, but not like Taylor swift. Lena just feels like the snotty bad attitude teenager.
I find so much about her insufferable… but she’s actually very well spoken and when the subject isn’t her own neuroses I find what she says to be pretty interesting.
She bugs me maybe its because she sounds like someone I know. I tried to watch Girls writing is good but I just can’t be bothered with any of the characters including her.
Ugh. She’s the product of parents who celebrated her every mood, burp, and fart and know she thinks we will, too.
NOPE.
Eating disorders are very very serious and I don’t think people can just “outgrow” them. My best friend had anorexia in her late teens, she’s fine now but she still strugles at times. Teenagers tend to experiment with diets, that is true, but I wouldn’t call such things disorders.
I was fat from the age of 10 to about 20, and it affected my life immensely. The thing about being fat is that it isn’t just psychical, people view it as a character trait, as a character fault. And teenage kids can be pretty cruel. And I appreciate women like Lena, because just a few years ago, when I was a teen, there weren’t people like her, or Mindy Kalling, on the screen. Women who looked a bit different from the usual people. And it was hard every day to be bombarded with the message that you are wrong and ugly.
I’m 21 now, I’ve lost the weight, but most of the insecurities, body issues, low self-esteem issues remain. Hopefully that will change one day.
There’s a difference between eating disorders and disordered eating. Eating disorders do not magically go away and one does not “outgrow” them.
Usually disordered eating is rooted in something superficial, like feeling peer pressure to be thin, whereas EDs can be caused by a myriad of different factors. That being said, there’s an overlap between the two where someone who suffers from disordered eating might engage in some of the same behaviors as a person who has anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating disorder.
It basically comes down to a difference of degrees. Someone who has an eating disorder almost inevitably ends up in a hospital or causing permanent damage to one’s body, or in a worse case scenario, dies from their ED.
People with disordered eating usually end up maturing and outgrowing that behavior, while people with EDs will learn to manage it, if they’re lucky.
This, a million.
I understand what Kaiser is saying, though. I would argue that most people have disordered eating since technically, eating for any reason other than to fuel your body and survive is “disordered.” Eating to celebrate, eating out of sadness, any time food is consumed in relation to an emotional response (which, in our society, is so often) would be technically disordered. But every person who exhibits disordered eating does NOT have an eating disorder. I most definitely have disordered eating, but I do not have an ED.
@Kitten-well said. She’s unbearable. I am one of those people who have learned to manage my ED, which started at 12. It’s been 20 years and it’s still a struggle. A boyfriend can’t make it go away-no one can. I dislike this woman more and more.
This reminds me of when Snookie claimed she had anorexia. She ate only salads for lunches and skipped breakfast for a week in HS. Her friends told her to eat something and that was the end of that.
I was diagnosed with an ed at 18 and it’s still a struggle. I have a great life, but you never know where that next trigger will come from. It’s tough and ongoing
What gets me really fired up is this kind of talk from Lena. I’m not trying to minimize the issues people have with food. Just that claiming an ED when it’s only an unhealthy relationship with food irks me. It’s like the disorder all the cool kids have. Or that few weeks you didn’t eat much, but then you felt happier for some reason and were cured.
Oh, thank you for clarifying. I’m not a native speaker so I comprehended that wrong.
I feel you, and its not just that its considered a character trait or flaw, it is who you are -fat- thats what defines you and that is what your identity becomes (when you’re at such a young age and only discovering an identity). My ed started at 11, and at 23 I still struggle sometimes (because my thought patterns and habits developed while suffering). I am glad I am an an adult and the ability to recognise distructive behaviour and control it to some extent. I think it is probably worse now for tweens, seeing as instagram/facebook requires them to be forever photo-perfect, and the general behaviour is to act like a diva (even though they are kids and should be in the real world).
She is exshausting
Your eating is hard for you to talk about, Lena? Then don’t fu**ing talk about it! Gah how annoying.
I agree about the teenage phases that aren’t full blown disorders. From 17-19 I played dangerous games with starving myself and seeing how far I could take it. It got a little scary but I outgrew it. I only regret that it screwed up my matabolism for life.
She is promoting a book. Also,if her talking about her issues with eating helps others then that’s a good thing.
Not a huge fan of Lena, but I do appreciate her comments on her struggle with food. I am sick of people assuming people who are overweight are just lazy or just love food. I eat because I am stressed. I don’t have any other coping mechanisms in place. But eating disorders don’t mean you are either anorexic or bulimic (which are pretty bad).
I do like to hear when people are in a good and healthy place, no matter what their size.
I’m not a fan either but for once she’s not bugging the crap out of me. I haven’t had an ED, although in college I think I had some fairly disordered eating habits, but I’ve had a lifelong struggle with anxiety so I can relate to what she’s saying.
I also think her boyfriend isn’t the only reason she’s gotten better at accepting herself…she said being busy and maturing were factors, too. Sounds like a pretty healthy evolution.
Me too, at 16 for a sort time used to purge out what i ate,but i got over it and realised it was unnecessary.
“What bugs me is that Lena is basically saying that she doesn’t have disordered eating now because she has a boyfriend. THAT is a horrible message.”
Didn’t Kirsten Dunst say the same thing recently when she confessed if she didn’t have a boyfriend she would try to be thinner?
And Mindy Kaling too. “That was the hottest I’ve ever looked because I stopped eating.” However, Mindy’s comment wasn’t deemed a horrible message.
I think Mindy was saying that she lost a ton of weight because she was sad, not because she was consciously making a distinction as a single woman. She had a rough break up and got sad and food was not as appealing. Some people are similarly impacted by unemployment, the death of a loved one…
I don’t understand viewing one’s body image in terms of one’s relationship with a significant other. It’s just impossible for me to relate to that.
It wasn’t just having the BF. I think the most important element was ‘supportive’. Maybe she found a best friend in her SO.
Yeah I still don’t get it. Could be the difference between someone like myself who has an ED and someone like Lena who obviously engaged in disordered eating. Probably needing a guy to make her feel secure was enough for her to relinquish that behavior.
I’ve never put on “love weight” or changed my eating or exercise habits because of who I’m dating. I’ve also never particularly cared about what a guy thinks of my body. My relationship with my body is solely about me and me only.
I do. I’ve spent most of my life thinkg I was too ugly for any kind of attention from the opposite sex, so I can relate to that. When someone else likes you it can help to change the way you view yourself. Not completely, of course, but it can help.
Yeah I definitely understand that on a human level because it really does feel great to be loved and appreciated. I just meant that personally I don’t get it in terms of how I view my body. I wasn’t criticizing so much as just sharing my personal experience.
That shirt………. STILL NOT OVER IT.
But isn’t it fantastic to ponder wtf is going on there?
Trolling is going on there.
If you have a vagina, it is always ‘raining men’. You just have to decide whether you want to tango. Getting laid is not hard. It’s quality, not quantity.
ITA, maybe when she was at her biggest she felt the most comfortable and that confidence made her notice the attention she was receiving. But stop all this nonsense about raining men. Guys are going to be attracted to whatever they’re attracted to. Big, skinny, tall, short, etc.
Ummm this. I don’t doubt it was raining men….but that’s kinda not something to brag about.
Agreed. Sometimes it’s more of a matter if you want to work them; there is nothing wrong with saying what you mean, meaning what you say, not wanting to laugh at hideous jokes that are not even funny. The most important thing is knowing what you want.
The more I read her interviews the more I get annoyed by her.
And I totally agree with Kaiser here – to suggest that a key to healthy eating is having a boyfriend is so wrong. Especially coming from a woman who is supposed to be a “feminist”
She comes across as someone with deep self-esteem issues and she should figure out her own agendas before giving eye-rolled advise to others.
I didn’t take away: I have a BF, so now it’s okay. I think she means she has a support system – and that’s important – whether it comes in the form of a boyfriend, friends, family, etc.
Ugh…what is going on with that outfit?!?
I don’t know why anyone would want to discuss their weight or size or eating habits. Unless it’s your career. If you like how you are, then carry on. Don’t explain or defend or justify. If you’re “comfortable in your skin” (I hate that phrase), then keep on truckin’.
This so much. I feel so many women feel some kind of need to justify their body shapes. Even the athletic ones with the “typically hot” body have to explain it’s for them and not for the men. Who cares. If you squat so men think you’ve got a better ass, it’s your problem. It’s your ass. Do whatever you want with it.
And it’s a little counterproductive, too. Why would you justify something that was never wrong to begin with?
If she has really accepted herself for how she is that’s great. It’s a really hard place to get to. I’m 36 and am still trying. I’ve recently got a new routine going and am trying to choose healthier foods more than unhealthy ones.
However, the only thing that bothers me at all about Lena Dunham (I don’t care about her size) is that she dresses SO badly for her body type. This is not that big and could really show off her best assets with what she wears but it’s like she goes out of her way to look FUG.
I think she does go out of her way to be fug. Really. Especially for awards shows and on her show. I think it’s totally another way she gets attention from people. As in, people say she looks awful (because she does) and she can turn around and complain about body shaming etc.
I can think of one particular episode of her show where she is riding a bike wearing a bikini that is obviously too small for her and it was clearly an effort to get a rise out of the audience. THAT is why I can’t with her – the constant trolling is intolerable.
She’s just exhausting. And I really detest how some of her fans think I should support her because I’m a woman and she’s supposedly a feminist. Hahahaha. Yeah. No.
That skirt… I just can’t. So she’s gone from disordered eating to disordered fashion? #SaveTheMuppets
She’s just gross and creepy. I seriously doubt it was ever raining men Lena. Its one thing to try and make a point but we all know that’s a bit of a stretch.
I agree – I don’t think it was ever “raining men.” Nice try, Lena. Sometimes the truth and Lena are far, far apart.
As someone already said: it’s always raining men if you are willing. The problem is that personally I probably wouldn’t touch any of these would-sleep-with-everyone-and-anyone-guys with a ten-foot pole.
she always seems to protest too much regarding every arena of her life. meh.
I agree with her, same thing in my case, the best I looked the harder was to get a guy. I don’t let myself go too often, because I suffer of yo-yo-ism. However, I had better luck when I was at a weight that did not much my ideal self… go figure
Lol.
As if.
Let me tell you a secret about us men, we’ll sleep with anyone, even if we think you’re ugly.
I’m genuinely curious where such men exist. I’m average looking and on the slim side of average build. I have never been hit on by a guy in my life, and I would say that I’m rejected by about 90% of the guys I try to chat up. Maybe I have a terrible personality? I dunno.
Hi, just wanted to say that I didn’t really have any romantic partners before my husband… though I did go out with people occasionally. The most telling thing, for me, was when some random guy came across the room at a party to tell me I was incredibly intimidating. I had never set eyes on him before. I am tall, slim, athletic, pretty but not gorgeous, and lots of fun once I get to know someone. I am also self-assured, smart, and apparently give off a vibe that I’m not into bullsh. Apparently, when other options are available that doesn’t pique male fancy, though most enjoy my friendship. All this to say: don’t worry. A partner worth your attention will approach you… but it can be lonely, and a bit confusing until someone has the stones to do so.
No one is ever “too intimidating.” Men dont think like that, men think “she’s got nice tits” and a little bit of “she’s hilarious” from time to time. Think about it. Is there a type of man that you find intimidating? I cant think of any certain ‘type’ with an air of ‘no bullshiz’ that’s made me think “I want him but I shouldn’t, his no bullshiz radar might ping.”
I have resting bitch face something awful. When I was single and even now I still get men saying “Smile, honey!” or “You’d be even more beautiful if you smiled!” Believe me, men can find a line easily and you having an air of crabbiness doesnt make you off limits.
If you cant snag some male attention or maintain it, its probably because there’s something you’re doing wrong. I dont mean to sound awful because there is probably NOTHING wrong with you but we all do things we dont really realise. Maybe you talk about things too indepth right away because you’re intelligent and aware, maybe you come off bored and bland because you’re trying not to appear a certain way etc. Maybe you come off too eager when really you’re just happy to meet people and not looking for Mr Right.
Hopefully I said all this correctly.
@belladonna: harsh. why should anyone change who they are, unless they really are class-A jerks? it’s more a matter of meeting the “right” person, for some people.
I’ve had similar experiences to the person posing the question. I have many girlfriends who experience the same decades-long dry spell, and we have asked our male friends about it, the basic response is that something about us makes them intimidated (yes, real words) romantically (even if we ask them out), but we’re great to have as friends. it’s pretty lame. in my opinion, they gravitate towards women who seem vulnerable in some way, perhaps?
I DO think that women can be too intimidating, especially if men are not looking for a serious partner but an easy lay or a short affair. Some women just look “too much work” for that.
Other than that I think it also depends where you live – big cities are usually better places to flirt around as they are always buzzing with people and locations where to meet them. If you live in an area with not much of a nightlife it’s harder and you usually meet people just through work or hobbies.
And in my expierence: I always was my most successful when I was actually NOT interested in any men (so it was practically useless lol) and didn’t give a flying **** if I would meet someone and if they would like me. And when I was open to dating and fooling around exactly nobody was interested in me.
Haha! That’s what I used to think, except I’ve been watching my college friend – who is pretty, sweet, smart, has a good job, tall, slim with great legs, adventurous, athletic, loves to travel and eat – who has never had more than one date with a guy, for almost 20 years. Seriously. I don’t understand why they don’t even want to sleep with her, even if for one night. It’s raining men for her until after the first date. Then they all avoid her like the plague. None of our friends can understand this.
Honestly, I am more like a man (as my girlfriends tell me) , I enjoy sex way more than any other woman I have known and am very sexually adventurous and I am very upfront about it when I start dating a guy. needless to say, I have never had a problem finding men and to date, have dumped every man I have ever been with when I grow bored or crave something different. I have been in long and short term relationships since I have been dating at age 18. I am also blunt on what I am looking for and not looking for (I don’t want kids for example) and I don’t play games. I am who I am, I have lots of guys friends whom I do not sleep with, I am low-maintenance and would take a walk in the park and some hot chocolate followed by mind-blowing sex than a fancy date or gift. Many of my guy friends tell me the same complaints: women can be prudish and not be up for a lot of things sexually, are not open-minded in other aspects of their lives as well, and a lot of women are very high maintenance (take an hour plus to get ready for a date, wear too much makeup, etc)and some can be a bit goldiggy, dependent, too needy, too many games etc. I am very independent and I like money split 50-50, not all this man pays all the meals etc. A lot of modern men want a modern woman like myself.
Yes, but a lot of modern men also like a woman who doesn’t put them under that much sexual pressure, is more “girly”, sends them text messages every day and stuff like that. What I want to say: It’s always great if you are what you are and there are – in most instances – also people out there who like that. You don’t have to be totally sexually adventurous and “modern” to be loved and you don’t have to be a domestic goddess who bakes cake for her man. And if you try to change the way you are just to attract the opposite (or same) gender it will probably go wrong and end up feeling fake and awkward.
@MeanHannah: I am sorry that this is not the place to have a proper discussion about the phenomenon you mentioned. Because it is hugely interesting and probably way more relevant than many people would imagine.
I could tell you about examples of women who have all the qualities you’ve listed in SUPERLATIVES. (Not “pretty” – gorgeous; not “smart” – IQ way above average) plus they’re amazaingly kind, generous. compassionate, tremendously good listeners, and wickedly FUN.
One particularly baffling example involves a crown jewel of a woman who not only has all of the above, but is sexy as hell and was (as Andrea would put it) “sexually adventurous” to the max when involved with a man.
I say “was” because she hasn’t even had a date in decades.
Apparently, there IS such a thing as “too good” for the great majority of men, and it seems they know it.
At that, I supply a quote from a Chinese author: ‘Men are never satisfied. It’s an illness that they have. When they see a nice, pretty girl from next door, they want her to exhibit the seduction skills matching a seasoned courtesan; when they do meet such courtesan, however, they want her to behave like a shy, homely girl, or a highborn lady.’
Time for this precious snowflake to go and melt.
Any MADtv fans out there? Remember the Stuart skit? I can’t look at the top picture without thinking about it.
Look what I can do!
Im going to chime in with my own personal theory about lena dunham in general; i think she is an exhibitionist, pure and simple. in the past, she’s fed a bunch of lip service along the lines of “the only way i could accept my body was to turn it into a prop…..”, or “i’m trying to make all body types acceptabl…”. i think that is complete b.s. and she knows it. i think she is an exhibitionist, that is why she wears such insane, laughter and/vomit inducing fashion, that is why she has gone out of her way to get naked on her show (esp. when the scene did NOT, in any way, require her to do so). she wants us to LOOK at her, and hopefully, talk about her. i mean, who in their right mind would wear that pink monstrosity BUT an exhibitionist?? some people might say; “but anna, how is she an exhibitionist when she’s getting mostly NEGATIVE attention??” because, an exhibitionist is simply one who wants attention, all the time, good OR bad. think of a pervy flasher, flashing his junk to random women on the street. that is a form of exhibitionism.
I really do wish she’d grow out of her narcissism, but it may be terminal in her case.
She is absolutely derivative of the Woody Allen-type humor and speech pattern, accept without the talent or content. The “It Girl” (really?) has absolutely nothing to say. If she is “the voice of her generation,” then the message of her generation is “I have nothing to say. Pay attention to me.”
Lena Dunham walked into each scene of her show by putting on a pathetic cutesy puppy dog face. Every scene. This was the basis of her show. Very realistically, guys simply couldn’t resist her on the show. I stopped watching when she waddled (literally) into the apartment of a character played by Patrick Wilson (who has starred opposite the likes of Kate Winslet), and within minutes he was on his knees begging her to stay. Then she was naked. Again.
Narcissism oozes out of her pores, as it did with every precious character on her show. It is so pervasive that it is kind of a “post-narcissism”- so palpable that it is almost a living lead character in each episode.
There were times on the show when, looking straight ahead at Dunham, she looked cute. But in the same episode, if you saw her from a side view, she looked revolting. Even if she was as cute as she thinks she is, that’s all there is, there is literally nothing else about or to the show.
The scariest thing about Lena Dunham’s existence is not her penchant for taking off her clothes (which is scary). It’s that Dunham (along with the dean of self-absorbed “cutsedy,” Judd Apatow) successfully marketed ego as talent. There is really no entertainment value in Dunham’s ego. I really hope the garbage created by that pure ego doesn’t creep further on to the screen.
I don’t like Lena Dunham because she is not only an over-privileged mediocre (at best) talent; but she is a committed racist. She had to be forced to have a black person on her awful show, because she said she couldn’t write for “them” because she didn’t know any.
I am pleased that she is unhappy.
she’s vile and repulsive.
God, she sounds like an annoying person. That’s the problem of building your career too much about who you are – sometimes people are not just interested or they can’t like you because of who you are.
She purposely dresses fug. No one would want to wear fug and ill fitting clothes on tv, when you have the means not too. Plus her love of being naked.
I agree with you on going through a “phase” of bad extreme dieting in your teens, but it’s true that even while you accept your body more as you get older, a lot of weird eating habits stay with you. I remember I used to keep a journal of what I ate when I was my heaviest. Now, I struggle to finish food. I’m not saying it’s directly correlated but I think a lot of women will punish themselves whether it be a workout or what they eat or who they date.
I think Lena gives a lot of women a fresh outlook because she’s literally like a little girl who doesn’t care what the men think!