I love how every generation thinks that they’ve invented certain looks. These are photos of Lena Dunham arriving on the set of Girls yesterday in NYC. I don’t believe this is her costume, I think this is what she wears in real life, as she comes in to work. While I don’t really have a problem with her outfit, it just reminds me so strongly of what was fashionable in the early 1990s especially. All of the girls wore fluttery little summer dresses with butch jackets and comfortable kicks like this. But Lena is only 27… would she remember that? Those are probably her earliest style memories, I would guess.
Anyway, Lena and HBO released the “teaser” trailer for Season 3 of Girls. As I’ve told you guys before, I watched a few episodes of Season 1 and while I didn’t really care for it, I’m also kind of mystified as to why Girls inspires so much rage and commentary. Lena has never said that this is representative of anything other than her life, etc. Anyway, here’s the trailer:
If you’ll notice a few seconds in, there’s a photo of Lena in a bikini. Here’s a screenshot:
Is this controversial? An award-winning writer/director/actress with a less than model-perfect body wearing a bikini? I’ve seen several sites use the screenshot as an excuse to write “I can’t believe she’s wearing a bikini, she doesn’t have a perfect body!” stories. I don’t know… this kind of thing just makes me want to defend her. Maybe “not having the best body and showing it off all the time” is her shtick and maybe it is getting tired, but people still FREAK OUT over the fact that Lena is comfortable in her own skin and that she owns who she is, inside and out. And isn’t that a pretty good message overall?
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
I don’t think it’s controversial so much as it’s an attention-grab. I’m not a Lena Dunham fan but she is a smart woman and she knows what will get people talking. Just look at how many magazines feature Beach Body photo spreads and stuff like that.
As for her “regular” fashion, it reminds me a lot of what I see on ModCloth; very retro-ish and borderline twee. I was a teenager in the 90s and I don’t remember fashion being quite this cutesy, tbh.
I completely agree with the first paragraph. It’s an attention grab. Blogs will talk about it ad nauseam (because they love talking about the show) and some will attack her body, then others will retort with body shaming comments (making her the sympathetic victim), lather, rinse, repeat. Isn’t this what she does?
There was a UK weathergirl who had a baby, gained a lot of weight and was famously papped (prearranged, obvs.) working out with her trainer in a skin tight lime green crop top and hotpants combo that showed off every roll and ripple – of which there were many – in a public park.
Cue uproar, 3-4 months to get into shape and then – surprise! – a weight loss DVD. It’s so calculated and cynical.
Agree with both points. In the 90’s, I had a particularly heinous flannel shirt that I liked to pair up with a long flowery skirt. We didn’t really show a lot of skin in the early 90’s. Then the babydoll/lingerie dresses changed all that up in the mid- 90’s. Those were the days…
I used to wear maxi dresses with doc martens or
leg warmers with boots and long top and biker jacket
sometimes I’d wear a maxi skirt, bustier with a 50’s smoking jacket…thrift shopping yeah
I used cutesy stuff. It was around, at least in Europe. Then again I wasn’t into wearing what everyone else did. And you’ll never, ever ever find me in bellbottom pants OR those flowy tops that make you look pregnant that teens are/were (?) wearing since 7 years ago.
Yeah in the nineties cutesy floral dresses by Naf Naf where THE thing to wear here in the Netherlands, combined with a white tshirt or leggings underneath or a denim jacket.
LadyMTL
Right on the money as usual. It’s not controversial. Lena is smart enough to know what gets attention for her show.
Good for her she’s comfy in her own skin. I just hope she’s healthy too. It should always be about health and comfort.
As for modcloth. They are very retro. More so now. I have several pieces from there and they’re classic styles. Those usually sell out fast though and it’s easily 1% of their inventory. The rest is over priced knick knacks.
What is she supposed to wear to the beach, a muu muu?
+1
I think she looks good! So her stomach isn’t totally flat….so effing what!
Agreed. Probably if we showed more “real body” we could have less issues about being perfect.
+1. Body confidence. Never throw shade.
Skinny people screaming “but we have real bodies, too” in 3 … 2 … 1…
And yes, thin people, you are very much not imaginary but you also have the body type that is widely accepted and preferably shown in the media 90% of the time. So this is NOT about you being not real, it is about the lack of diversity and lack of representation in body type, race, age, ability, etc. That’s what is not true to reality.
I agree however, that “real bodies” (and sentiments thereof > “real women have curves” etc.) is problematic in it’s wording. We need to stop imposing ideas on what woman’s body is supposed to look like to be considered real/normal/ideal and criticize the deeper problems behind it – misogyny and lack of female representation.
@*unf* Joan Jett
I’ve really liked what you’ve said about diversity, that’s what we don’t see anymore. And we should see more often.
But she is fat! And fat women should dress for their body type which means, they need to cover up as much skin as possible – no matter where they are. Because fat people are obligated to be as easy on the eyes of people who hate them.
[yes, sarcasm]
great use of sarcasm
Love this! Sad world we live in.
I vote to replace “real” with “average.” The US average is about a size 14, right? I’m a size 13/14 and refer to myself as average.
I think she looks amazing in that bikini…loads better than the crap that she always wears. I don’t know what it is about it, but I personally don’t like the way she dresses. She looks great. If I were her I’d get pap’d in the same bikini just to make my point.
YES! (oh, you were being sarcastic?)
She’s fat, so what? I don’t want/like/have to look at her. Guess what? Don’t like it, don’t watch. Move on. Nothing worthy of interest to see here.
Lena needs a new schtick.
Go on Lena!!!
love the show.can’t wait!! haha
+ 1
“Maybe “not having the best body and showing it off all the time” is her shtick” – that’s Will Ferrell’s shtick and nobody seems to mind.
I agree, this makes me want to defend her, despite finding her very irritating. Most guys would say she looks good in a bikini – maybe not the model chasers, but regular dudes. Frankly, I find her ugly dress/jacket and shoe combo far more troubling than her bikini……
Agree. I don’t mind her in the bikini at all. She’s at the beach. But loathe the jacket, shoes and dress combo. Unflattering, to say the least.
That getup is awful. The worse you look the cooler you are, I guess. She looks terribly knock-kneed. You are only young once, why not look great? You can wear stuff like this when you are 80. Lena is very cute, IMO. It’s not hip to wear flattering clothes now, it ruins hipster cred.
+1. She just looks average, not amazing, however it’s not as if she’s trying to force anyone to think she looks amazing a la Leanne Rimes. Having an average to a bit below average body is her shtick.
This. While I’m not convinced this isn’t a strategy of some sort, I find her personality and attitude more distasteful than her wearing a bikini. Lena’s body is closer to the average woman’s than any of those we regularly see in the media, so why snark? This is how women look, and there’s nothing wrong with her body.
Thus concluding the nicest things I have ever said about Lena Dunham. Not so nice: the dress and jacket combo look AWFUL on her.
Nerd Alert-
I think you just performed a Vulcan mind-meld on me. Everything I ever thought of saying about Lena Dunham (but didn’t really care enough about her to do so), you just said for me. No, she does not look “amahzing”, she just looks like a regular person. I do NOT get the love for this girl at all. *shrugs*
Hear, Hear. I do like the fact that she isn’t hiding her body, but there is a “look at meeeee!” factor that I am not entirely comfy with. I support her body confidence very, very much. I think it’s good for her fans to see this image of a more realistic, average body that rarely exists on television. However, I don’t find her any more interesting, talented, or worthy of merit than any other young woman I know. She is narcissistic and very much a product of her privilege–it annoys me to no end that she doesn’t acknowledge how much of her success is due to nepotism and connections.
This is NOT how women look. This is how SOME women look. I find it awful, which is why I eat right and exercise. Please don’t lump us all into this ” I’m ok with being fat” category because I’d never be okay with being that overweight. I think she looks terrible in that bikini. Yeah, I said it.
*waves at nc_magnolia and MaiGirl*
Ha! Three cheers for Lena’s average-ness then, right? Not impressed by her average talent, nor offended by her average body in a bikini.
I thought about it today, and really I think she is trying to distract us from her shitty attitude. I’m not falling for it!
As for you, Mina: Sorry, but in America, this is average. Half of American women are fatter than that. I get that you’re offended by fat people, but that’s really your personal hang-up. I work out and eat right just like you, but I don’t project my values onto other people and express disgust at people different from myself. I’m certainly not offended by fat people. Don’t want to be fat? Super. Don’t be.
I’m telling you now, though, it’s a waste of time and energy to be offended by something as inconsequential as Lena Dunham’s weight.
She doesn’t even look bad. The best message of all times is to accept yourself as you are forget about haters. Haters gonna hate.
She looks pretty normal. Apparently those complaining about her wearing a bikini have never been to a beach or swimming pool.
No, she doesn’t look bad. I think she looks cute.
@Mew I don’t think it’s just about haters hating. Gwyn Paltrow is slim and I can’t stand that woman either. Lena is just not a likeable person and that’s why a lot of people despise her.
As for the bikini, no big deal. Here on reality beach, this is what a lot of women look like.
She cracks me up.
It’s idiotic how people lose their shit over her being naked on the show. I feel like she nudes it up so much to troll them.
That’s why it seems so hacky and stupid. Trolling your audience is hardly clever. Her show is over-hyped as is the heavy breathing over her dull outfits. Fat or thin, I could care less, it just seems fake and try-hard.
Her acceptance of her own body is the most likable thing about Lena. There are far more reasons to be irritated with her in my book.
Haha, yes! Maybe that is why she constantly shows it off? So people would only body shame her and forget to call her out on her racism and stuff?
*conspiracy theory*
Could not have said it better. This is one of the only things she’s done that I kind of liked.
I love this thread. So much truth!
She looks better in the bikini than that ugly dress. Not interested in her show though.
I don’t like Girls that much, but I think the claims of “she’s ALWAYS showing her body!” are a bit ridiculous. She’s trying to show her life. Occasionally in our lives, we’re naked or in a bikini *shrug*
+1
She knows what she’s doing.
I don’t have a problem with it, if folks don’t like it, then don’t watch the show I guess.
I never saw her show and I don’t really know her or have an idea about her personality. Apart from that, she looks pretty normal in a bikini and why shouldn’t she appear in one when shooting a beach scene?? The fact that there are people considering it “attention grabbing” or writing their outrageous about it is simply appalling.
I hate the stereotype that if you’re over a certain weight you shouldn’t wear a bikini, I feel if your comfortable in it wear it.
She looks better than me in a bikini that’s for sure. Yeah I dislike Lena too because I think her show is boring and stupid. It makes me want to stick a fork in my eyeball. Especially the way they talk! is no one else bothered by that?! But even I can admit that the rage for her is often wayyyyy too much and mostly it’s just her body being criticized.
That said I think part of the reason is the media obsession with her. Practically every site publishing on pop culture has labeled her show the voice of her generation and has effusive praise for the acting, stories, and overall “bravery” of the show. I mean the show was labeled a cultural phenomenon before it even came out! That just seems like pure marketing.
To the rest of us plebeians its made to sound like we can’t be cultured or understand high art if we don’t absolutely love the show. We’re not progressive, open minded, blah blah blah etc.
The truth is if Lena looked like jlaw and a Lena type character were in the side then the show would be praised by everyone! Nobody would have a problem labeling her the voice of a generation because at least she looks pretty and she’s smart and she writes her own show etc etc. everyone would fall for the media hype an her adorkable personality. but Lena looks like Lena. Her show is nothing special and boring and it’s on hbo. Just saying.
But don’t you know how super BRAVE it is to be white, rich, college educated, young, cis, heterosexual, able bodied, conventionally attractive female? With all the lack of privileges? Basically stripped down of human rights!
[yes, sarcasm again]
that’s an interesting take. i have the exact opposite feeling about her and show. i think she has benefitted from looking “real” and getting credit being better than she really is. if the same show had been written by j law, i think more people would find it self indulgent and whiny.
Sorry I meant fan-boys would be more receptive to the message she was selling if she looked like JLaw. The guys and possibly even the girls would hate the body snarking comments and defend her right to be naked and any woman’s right to be naked I guess.
Her show would be given even more hyped despite being as boring as Victorian wallpaper. She’d still get criticized no doubt, but it wouldn’t be this bad.
Many people DO find Girls self-indulgent and whiny (and so, so calculated). Her nakedness, constant sex scenes, horrible dress sense, etc. are beside the point now. It’s just a terrible, unfunny show.
The condescending way Lena talks about women she considers more attractive/skinnier than her doesn´t scream self-acceptance to me(beautiful girls don´t write).
Critizing Lena for all of the problematic, racist stuff she said is one thing, but shaming her body is disgusting.
It´s such a non-story anyway, I see lots of girls at the beach or public swimming pool looking like her in a bikini.
I agree with your sentiments. In fact, the whole bikini issue is a total shrug for me.
I disagree with so many on here over the ”she shows too much skin” on her show. I made the same complaint when I would watch S&TC. Carrie was always running around in the skimpiest -and ugly- clothes just as an excuse to over show her body. A body that I didn’t find personally appealing, girl needed a burger or two, in my opinion.
After a while it stops being about the storyline & it becomes self indulgent. Once in a while it’s not a bad thing. I rooted for her when her character hooked up with Patrick Wilson.
She tries so hard to be controversial that her story lines fall weak. That’s why people, at least me, don’t like her… Her show is boring and sucks yet in her head she believes she’s groundbreaking.
I am just so sick of her naked body in Girls. Of course everyone should be comfy in their bodies, but with that said, there is no need to shove it down our faces all the damn time
+1
+1000000000000000000. put it away, for once.
-10000000000000 I would agree with you except we see women’s naked, underwear/bikini covered bodies over a thousand times a day and in most movies/commercials/shows. Why should hers have to be put away because it doesn’t look like the normalized body type we are used to seeing?
As a certified exercise professional, Lena does carry some extra weight but we can be healthy at every size. I’m more concerned about her doing some cardio and strength training to reduce to the overall look and get some tone,
Ditto
There are way more random boobs in Game Of Thrones. But if for once we get to see a non(quite)-Hollywood-normative body, I’ll fine with it being shoved down my face.
My main issue with her nude, is it never really fits with the story line in any way. Topless ping pong???
Also, that is for sure her on set. look at how well her makeup is done.
Wasn’t she playing ping pong with one of her pieces? Therefore I summed it to be a post sex activity. I, too, don’t get dressed right away.
@ Kellie
I agree that there’s a displacement of her nude scenes on her overrated show. Remember the mesh shirt where we have to see her exposed breasts the entire episode? I’ll watch shows that have exposure but it better be relevant to the plot & character.
But Johanna, wasn’t the mesh shirt in an episode where she was doing coke with her friend at a club and they switched shirts? Feeling very confident tends to be a side effect. I think the mesh shirt was a clue to the character’s emotional state.
@ Tiffany
It appears that there will always be someone rationalizing why she does whatever it is she does on her show. She could show up completely naked to a funeral and someone will explain it by saying, “her character was in so much pain.” Maybe, had it been the first or second time then I could understand the explanation on the mesh shirt but it’s constant with her and no, I don’t have a case of the clutched pearls. I’m 25 years old and married, a pair of ti-s doesn’t scare me off. It’s the bad writing of the characters and their stories that ticks me off and not to mention the fact that Lena Dunham thinks her show is brilliant. Pffftt!!!
Vouch.
Neither Ms. Dunham, nor her bafflingly popular show does a damned thing for me. Maybe if I were still in my twenties this would be my “SATC”. But I find it so whiny and boring, I have yet to be able to watch a full episode.
I don’t think she gives a damn.
Well, that’s screamingly obvious from the terrible outfits she wears constantly. She always looks like a sofa.
I was 7 in 1990. By the time I was maybe ten I had a collection of floral print babydoll dresses that I would pair with Doc Martens and flannel shirts. This was my uniform. I would just switch the floral and plaids around. On days I wore pants I wore overalls. Oh, the 90’s.
I had a pair of VELVET overalls I would wear with baby t’s. And a bunch of huge flannel shirts i wore with jeans and Docs. Yeah 1995.
The bikini shot looks fine, it’s when she’s dressed that she looks bad, she’s a slob.
I can’t belive you’re making me defend her. I really, really dislike her, but good for her. I don’t have enough confidence to be in a bikini and I’m in better shape than she is. Maybe if more women with less perfect bodies wore bikinis then girls wouldn’t be ashamed of their bodies.
I guess I’m in the minority here because I think she is insecure. I happen to enjoy her show and I think she’s very talented. I find the nudity and now this bikini shot to be extremely baity. She picked the worst possible bikini to wear. The fit is horrible and does not look good. It has nothing to do with her size either. My bestie is plus size and she wouldn’t be caught dead in that two piece and not because of being insecure but because it not flattering. Baity all the way.
I’m with you on the bikini, Jo! I have no problem with her or anyone else wearing a bikini, regardless of their size… but that is one ugly bikini, no matter who’s wearing it.
Well, to be fair to Lena, she’s wearing this bikini as her character, Hannah. And we all know (if you watch Girls) that Hannah has terrible taste in clothing. So I totally believe that Hannah would choose this bikini.
Or f*** flattering and wear whatever the hell you want 😉 Just freaking enjoy yourself!
(Also at a certain size, there is nothing, that is considered “flattering”. So why worry about it when less fat?)
This! I read through the comments just to make sure somebody said that. I have no problem with her being in a bikini but that one is just ill-fitting. It looks a size too small or something. That alone makes me think it’s baiting.
I don’t watch the show and have no opinion on Lena Dunham either way. But there are tons of women at my community pools wearing too-small bathing suits. It’s not baiting, it’s reality!!
Most of us look a little doughy and wear ill-fitting bathing suits. *shrug* It is somewhat interesting to see everybody freaking out about her portrayal of an average 20-something woman.
Maybe her refusal to buy into what people shove down her throat is why she’s so popular.
Oh, but she totally buys into what people tell her. People complained about the sheer jaw dropping lack of diversity for characters living in Brooklyn, and lo and behold, in season two Hannah had a black side piece/boyfriend for all of two episodes.
I don’t see what is so groundbreaking about doing what everyone in Brooklyn is doing. Spoiled rich brats pretending they know what it’s like to struggle. B*tch, please! Not being the prettiest girl at private school is not struggling. Going to bed hungry is struggling. Shopping at Goodwill because you HAVE to is struggling. Get over yourself already.
+1 x infinity. THANK YOU. If I wanted to see a bunch a spoiled rich kids and their problems, I’d go and take a drive to Cape Coral. I’d rather sit through a marathon of Tattoo/Bar Rescue than one minute of this show. And I hate both.
Can I marry this comment, please?
Well said.
Re Girls:
Can i ask why you guys at Celebitchy never covers Adam Driver who is Lena Dunhams love interest in Girls?
Adam has become a sort off beat sex symbol with every bit as much of a tumblr following as say Hiddleston. He is also somewhat of a fashion muse at the moment. He has an editorial in the september issue of Vogue ( you covered Cumberbatch article in the same issue) styled by Grace Coddington and he is also the star of the new Gap commercial. Plus he is in the new Cohen brother and the new Noah Baumbach movie. He is kind of happening at the moment be nice to see him covered here too.
WORD.
so YUM.
Yes please, he is so effing sexy and talented!
Dee, YES! I would love to see Adam Driver covered here – I’ve been on this site for years and he’s my new obsession. Ok “Obsession” is maybe a bit strong but he is a great actor, quirky, unusual and so interesting, and that kind of guy usually generates quite a following around these parts!
I second this!! I love Adam he is so freaking hot
His vogue fashion spread is shot by Annie Leibowitz
http://www.styleite.com/media/adam-driver-vogue-september-2013/#0
People find him attractive really?
Ew, no. He is creepily fascinating, which is Girls’ schtick.
Btw, him riding a donkey in one of the Vogue shots (while the woman walks) – lol.
I find him attractive, as for creepy.. well this is a site that has a post a day dedicated to mr creepy himself benedict cumberbatch so creepy shouldnt be a hindrance for fandom on Celebitchy. quite the contrary. So bring it on!
In answer to your question April. HELL YES!!!
Good lord I cant stand him
She looks fine. The Bikini bottom is too tight and they know it. If they had given her a fitting bottom with broader side-thingies (instead of the string-thingies) no one would say a word and that’s not in their interest. This however will get people talking…and that’s sad. How is a less than perfect bikini body still a thing that gets people talking? Why does this make PR bait? It should be a normal thing, nothing noteworthy.
I don’t know what the budget is on the show, but it looks as if the bikini was bought as a set, and they picked a size that would fit up top & could be adjusted on the bottom. She is the epitome of a pear shape, and I assume fitting one-pieces & sets of one size are difficult.
I love Lena and the show. I’ve just started on the second season. I think it’s refreshing to see someone so comfortable with who she is. Not all of us can be models.
Seriously?! They couldnt put her in a better suit than that?! It barely fits and doesnt work with her figure in the slightest. There are tons of two piece suits out there that would fit a woman of her size in a MUCH more flattering way. Dont believe me? Check out pinupgirlclothing.com.
Girls is awesome!! I think you need to be a single and/or hearbroken 20 year old, broke female to identify with it and really get the humour
Yeah, neither Lena Dunham nor GIRLS is breaking the mold here…
I think she has a nice, normal body. That bikini is terribly ill-fitting though.
Maybe I’m alone on this but I’m so sick of her being naked/half dressed on the show every chance she gets. I get it, you’re comfortable in your own skin and you want to send a positive message which is awesome, but try doing it with your clothes on. You don’t have to be naked to be happy with your body. It was great in the beginning and now it’s just attention grabbing and famewhoring. For someone as smart as Lena (whom I actually can’t stand but respect), she should know when to stop. Being comfortable in your own skin isn’t only about weight.
I can’t stand her, but I hate it when people call a body “less than”. Her body isn’t “less than perfect” because her stomach isn’t flat. It’s perfectly fine. Bodies aren’t better than other bodies because of a low body fat percentage.
This!
I only saw the 1st season of girls. It wasn’t bad, wasn’t great enough for me to track down season 2. It had some really clever parts and some really annoying parts. I think lena is controversial bc she is young and confident and “average looking” and she is unapologetic about all of the above. Despite the sometimes annoying, privileged characters, girls is sex positive and body positive, which I applaud. And i’m so tired of sitcoms with unattractive, idiot men dating/marrying beautiful women, so i’m glad for that.
Her body is fine. She’s not in shape but she doesn’t look awful. The bathing suit, on the other hand, is awful and very few women could wear it. I suspect she tried on dozens before she found one that looked that (purposefully) awful.
I think it’s part of her character’s combined cluelessness (eg not knowing what’s flattering) and body comfort. It’s endearing, and more power to her.
I am a huge fan of the 90’s and of her overall look here. I would kill for that straight, thick but fine hair. Love the cut as well.
When I’m at a pool or beach I see more women who look like her than not. Who cares? I certainly don’t. I only want to cool off. So not a big deal! I guess it’s only a big deal on TV and that’s just silly.
Ugh, reading your comment made me feel really uncomfortable.
Having a taste and preferring one body type over the other is perfectly fine. Speaking about bodies in derogatory way however is body shaming 1.01. And it is misogynist as f*** to deny women agency by telling them, what YOU think they should do with their own bodies!
I just spent a week at Myrtle Beach. Almost almost everyone looks like this. I’d never give her a second thought if i saw her at the beach other than to hope she’s wearing sunscreen so she doesn’t burn. It’s a non-issue.
If you spent a week at Myrtle Beach, you saw much more than this-LOL! And it’s not body- shaming et al to hope that folks buy/wear swimwear that FITS- and this certainly applies to men as well!!
As a person that’s been to Myrtle beach, so agree 🙂
I’m 47 and I love this show. I have never seen a body like Lena’s displayed in entertainment and I think it’s awesome. I know older men who think she looks great. It’s just beautiful because it make you think of pleasure instead of plastic boobs and working out, not eating, taking diet pills that make u edgy. Etc! Its exhausting trying to attain the perfect body. Enjoying life is more important.
I like Girls but I can see why people were annoyed with it in season 2 particularly. As for her showing off her naked body “too much”, I really don’t get it. Maybe I just didn’t focus on it once she’d stripped off a few times but after awhile it didn’t feel to me like it was ott or trying to make a political point,although I know she herself acknowledges that she is somewhat (I think?). I like the Carrie Bradshaw comparison, because I do feel like Lena’s character Hannah, and even Jessa to some extent, wear clothes in a very Carrie Bradshaw, fashion-y “look at me” way, except they are on normal bodies, not size 0 ones, so it is a very different impression.
Watching SATC always felt like “Ugh that skinny girl in her stupid outfits trying to prove skinny girls can wear anything and look good”, whereas w/Girls it feels like “Ok, her legs should not be pulling off that skirt but she still looks confident and cute”, and makes me want to wear whatever the hell I want to, screw it. And I think that is very important, I really do, esp. for younger women/girls. You don’t have to be skinny to wear what you want, why is that so hard for people to accept? Of course some Walmartian style crimes against fashion are another story, but
I do feel that Lena’s target is a subsection of self-flagellating female raised on photoshop and pro-ana and god knows what else, girls who wouldn’t dream of wearing shorts if they’re not a size 4, etc, and that she is maybe going to help right the wrongness of how badly we judge ourselves against often impossible standards…it would be nice anyway 🙂
Love this comment and the way you’ve expressed my thoughts
I LOVE the message she sends. playing ping pong topless after having sex with a guy on the show. something that visually jarring is shouting ‘this is how i look and you’re going to deal with it.’
I’m so tired of meeting me who look at me like I’m repulsive and and like it’s difficult for them to even stand next to me. I feel so sorry for you, it must take so much strength to stand next to a woman who doesn’t look like Gisele. what a rough life you have.
Men who act like women are here to satisfy them visually piss me off. I have a mind, I have a voice. I am not here to serve your needs.
Meg. I just want to say that I hear what you are saying and I get it.
Outside of Hollywood and Pro Sports, there’s a real world and real people.
Poor posture, and she looks like Hillary Clinton. It pains me to say that, because I like Hillary.
yeah, i dont think her problem is “fat” but she is slumpy and therefore almost always looks sloppy. a lot of people bigger than her look better because they have better carriage.
Holy shit I think she’s wearing my blue jacket from 3rd grade.
she looks fine and I don’t care what she wears or how much she weighs. I did try watching “girls” 4-5 times and it is awful. does no one but me notice how every character speaks in the same voice? they are all interchangeable; male or female, they all speak in lena dunham’s voice. to me that is the mark of a bad writer.
ugh. she and her show are so dull.
It’s not just what they say but how they say it, how they talk that infuriates me. I just think they’re vapid and dull and so painfully uninformed about the world.
I’ll be honest that I dislike Lena and have been turned away from her show because I found her New Yorker essays to be childish and self indulgent. That bikini is too small, though she has every right to wear one. She wants the uncultured heathens of America – I.e. everyone who didn’t grow up in Manhattan – to give her yet another excuse to wax philosophic on her favorite topic: herself.
Well said. Couldn’t agree more.
What has been seen can not be unseen
Most guys would say she looks good in a bikini – maybe not the model chasers, but regular dudes.
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No “regular dude” I know would say she looks good in a bikini, because she doesn’t.
Kind of a punitive explication there, Cicero.
She looks like Hillary Clinton.
ZOMG. I have that dress.
I don’t have a problem with her body, though I do think she wears clothes that are too little. As for her, I just don’t get her appeal at all.
Why does it HAVE to be shade baiting for her to appear in her show in a bikini in an episode that probably involves.. I dunno… Swimming maybe?
I don’t like the show, and I just cannot warm to her character on Girls, but why is everyone losing their shit over a female body that isn’t toned and pressed and primped and tanned to perfection? I hate that the narrative on this issue is basically “Lena isn’t a size 0 so showing her body = CONTROVERSY”. And for anyone who says it’s not controversial, that’s she’s boring etc, well.. everyone is talking about it. So it’s created a buzz. I just think it’s sad that a woman who doesn’t fit the Hollywood mould is stirring up this much discussion because she dares to show her body in an uncompromising, honest light. She’s not wearing a push up bra, she’s not suggestively laid across a bed arching her back, she’s not strategically hiding parts of herself. I think it’s brilliant, really.
We live in such a covertly misogynistic culture and don’t even realise it. We’ve come a long way, but we’ve got a VERY long way to go.
Lena knows her body isn’t the ideal body. She gets that and its why she wears as little as possible on her show. Its a form of humor and self-depreciation. Irony at its best as well. She reminds me of a female Woody Allen.
Never seen the show but in pictures she always seems to be trying too hard to “not care”. She is homely and that bathing suit doesn’t fit and makes her look really out of shape. She’s too young to have that sloppy body.
I’m fine with her and her figure.
I totally get that tearing down women’s appearance, talent, etc., is meat and potatoes for gossip sites, but I can’t quite manage to not notice that unattractive, schlumpy, every day joe-type male celebrities get a total pass. Or, worse, are held up as ugly hawt.
Oh the humanity!
It’s hard to pretend to like the show because it’s an attempt at whoa is a “hipster” in this HARD life among middle class white nerdy girls. Get over it, and go back to the drawing board, Lena D….then again, ignore what I just said and just be glad there’s gaggles and gaggles of dummies who go gaga over anything “contro”. But then there’s Mad Men…that I watch all thee time. (more or less anyway) Anyway, to Lena Dumbnum and Matt Weiner, CACHING!
pfft.. this is her schtick.
As if she invented body confidence.
She deliberately chooses clothes that don’t fit. Even on the red carpet… we’ve seen it covered on this site.
her “fame” is dependent on body-shaming. if she didn’t have all this “controversy” around her then her show likely would not exist.
it’s not like she has any writing talent.
plus, when she gets to claim victim status then people are less likely to look at lena’s own bigotry issues.
Not a fan of her or her show and I made myself watch all of season 1 too and then part of season 2 just to see if it actually improved. This bit she does exploiting her body is getting as boring and predictable as all the nudity and sex scenes in True Blood. I’m increasingly unimpressed with all of it on either show.
Why did I even click on this page?
I’d rather look at Melissa McCarthy in a bikini than Dunham. I don’t like Dunham’s overall look. Maybe she has resting ‘bitchface’ or something. But for me, there is no ‘x factor’ with Dunham. I don’t get the hype.
I don’t like sitcoms or, really, most made for tv drama, and I personally hate her ragtag Portland hipster look, but I’m not in her age group so that would be normal. I do especially like that she is bucking the system and I really like that she’s not a sick shade of orange, pretending to have a tan.
Those of us that have a bit more meat on us and are less than deeply tanned and like it that way, applaud her.
I’ve certainly seen FAR worse on a public beach and I don’t think this is any assault on the eyes that some might think.
Jesus, reading though some of these comments makes me want to bash my head against a wall. Yes, it’s attention grabbing because we’re not used to seeing celebrities a) over a size 6 in a bikini and b) seeing someone who is COMFORTABLE in their own skin. I myself am a bit smaller than Lena but I know plenty of girls her size so yes I would class Lena as ‘normal’, and that’s great! And I’m sure the bikini is relevant to the storyline/scene they are shooting so once it’s put in context it wouldn’t be as much of a suprize as it seems to be to some people. Anyway aside from that I love Girls and relate to a lot of the sht that happens, as well as finding it hilarious.
I think everyoneviscreading into this waaaay too much and the fact that Lena doesn’t care is probably what incites all the vitriol.
Can’t us girls all just be cool with each other? Even if something isn’t to your personal taste you can still appreciate it for what it is and move on. Girl power.