Comments

1

You use the word "we" a lot but you never define what you mean. I know for a fact that I don't hate Lena Dunham, therefore I'm not part part of it. So who is?

Do you mean "we, those who hate Lena Dunham"? Maybe the preposition you're looking for is "I".

2

er, pronoun. I meant pronoun.

3

60% us, 10% Lena Dunham, 30% Hannah Horvath

4

I've honestly never thought of this seemingly obvious truth. I've always hated her, but never bothered to ask myself I would feel the same way if she were attractive at all. And I think I would totally give her a pass and maybe even sing her praises. Its a good reminder that fat/ugly people really do get discriminated against in many ways. Sometimes that get pushed under the rug when everything is about race and gender.

6

Hmm, so when I hate on someone who seems to think "it's all about me," it's really all about me?

That's a little twisty, but it seems plausible after staring at it for a while.

7

One of the best parts of getting old is I have no fucking clue who Lena Dunham is.

8

I liked Tiny Furniture. I tried liking Girls. I just couldn't. A lot of that probably has to do with the fact that I'm (now) a 44 year old guy.... but I just found the show grating. I also can't really stomach Master of None, which sort of exists on the same plane. Too much millennial disconnect? Maybe.

Anyway, you can dislike the art without disliking the artist (or at least not caring about the artist).

10

I agree, she has the nerve to be opinionated and not know everything while inhabiting a regular body. That's why I'm crazy for her.

11

“And yet, you rarely see people screaming TMI!! at Kim and Khloe.”

Wut?

12

Or maybe we hate Lena Dunhambecause she routinely uses her privilege to hurt other women and minorities? She’s the fucking worst, and I won’t apologize for thinking she’s an asshole.

https://forward.com/schmooze/415469/lena-dunham-apologizes-admits-she-lied-to-discredit-alleged-rape-victim/?fbclid=IwAR27-47L-eUsRTD6KvUT961Mjwj7BXQ36Hf-UIOZ-Oy1wu7DyS9n5lqYfiE

13

I dunno, I kinda like her even though I'm only familiar with her work second hand.
First I admire her courage in doing nudity with an average body. That took courage, real physical courage, the type of (possibly foolish) physical courage that changes the course of battles and wins wars.
Second I kind of admired what she was doing with the Odell Beckham thing...it was her subjective impression of what someone else's subjective impression of her was. A double mirror, if you will...an exercise in radical empathy,,, artists get license to do things like that.

16

Dunham's target demo is coastal college-educated liberal millenials. They hold her to impossible standards because that's what they do. The reason those same standards don't apply to troglodytes like Trump is not because those same people don't hate him, it's because he doesn't rely on that demographic for his support. In fact, he owes much of his popularity to his talent for pissing them off.

17

katie, this is the best piece you've authored for the stranger yet, nice work. i agree completely, and i'm only a casual dunham fan at best (aka i've seen a handful of girls episodes and thought they were decent). of all the people to "hate" in 2018, focusing those energies at dunham is bizarrely petty, and almost certainly rooted in shitty old fashioned sexism. thanks for this piece.

18

I hate what Lena does to women and minorities (seconded, GingerTea @12) and being lumped into the same white female category with her or anyone like her. I AM damned proud to say, however, that the only reason I have any clue who Lena Dunham even is is from a MAD magazine issue.
Catalina VelDuRay: After recently seeing The Truman Show starring Jim Carrey I now see why you may have mistaken Laura Linney for Lena Dunham. Lena Dunham would perfectly fit the role of a psychotic reality TV show nurse, and in a really bad way.

19

I'll defer to the Expert Witness on the supposed "beauty" of the Ks. FTWL...

I am thankful that I've never seen any of Ms D's work, guessing about half the negative things I've heard about her to be true (a tenth would suffice) and a quarter accurate.

On a positive note, Ms Linney appears to have considerable versatility.

20

Lena, Lena, Lena. Can we get some naked pics of her ex Jack Antonoff instead? He is dreamy.

21

The biggest failure of "Girls" was that it was BORING. After a few episodes I looked at the huzz and said "this is really terrible. I want them all to die." Never watched it again.

I'm voting for Jack Antonoff naked. He's super dreamy.

23

It's way too easy to say that Dunham is "progressive" and then puts her foot in her mouth 3/4 of the way through an article that claims to not get why so many hate her. The whole problem is that she presents as super progressive and even "woke" but time and again spews crap and does things that are so obviously signs of her internalized racism and sexism. Look, all white Americans are racist and sexist to some degree but the true progressives among us are those of us who acknowledge our racism/sexism, note when we act on it and try to learn and grow so we fall back on those learned attitudes less and less often. Lena Dunham doesn't seem to do it.

Willfully missing that point, which I think you do in this piece, reads to me like you're taking her side simply BECAUSE she is a "plain" looking woman. You might be right that people are more ready to dislike her for what she does and to say it because of how she looks. But the fact is, we should call her out on her actions and words because they are often bad and should be called out in anyone.

24

Own your shit white people. She should be excoriated for what she did to a WoC who claimed she was sexually harassed, by throwing doubt on the incident, then admitted she lied about it. And instead of apologizing to the victim directly, Lena does it on social media. 🚮🚮

25

@1, Herzog is using "we" to describe an accepted public opinion in main stream culture. Whether you like it or not, you don't get to chastise others for reflecting on the average if you fall in the minority.

How is it the accepted main stream opinion? Because more people say it is than people who say it isn't.

26

A burrito fart of an article defending the living embodiment of white privilege from a TERF out of the Caucasian mayonnaise virgin spring that is Seattle. Thank you, internet!

27

I've always hated Lena Dunham because I could see through her bullshit. She lacks the very authenticity she works so hard to project. The only reason I'm commenting now is because a lot of us saw her true colors a long time ago, and I'm wondering...now that she's admitted to the world what a POS she is...how do you feel about the slant of this article now? How do you feel about this headline? Just because you couldn't see what she is, doesn't mean some of us couldn't. Hope you learn something from this.

28

"If Lena Dunham were cuter or sexier, I have a suspicion we'd all be more willing to tolerate her." "We hate Lena Dunham because it brings us together in a gleeful fit of rage and indignation."

Which is it? That's an odd turn at the end that isn't supported by any of the rest of piece. Most people already know that shit-talking is a bonding experience, but the argument was supposed to be about why specifically her and not others.

This opinion piece may have been relevant back when she actually was 25, but Dunham is now 32 and the horrific ways she has treated Odell Beckham Jr. and Aurora Perrineau, not to mention the subsequent wack apologies, have all been in the last two years.

29

Ditto @ 12, 23, and 24. She is a rape apologist, says shit that is damaging to women, feminism, and people of color. She is everything that is horrible about "white women feminism", and if that says more about me than it does about her, I'm pretty fucking okay with me.

30

Katie Herzog is the Neil Peart of bad takes.

31

Gingertea and cmonster have my vote. I hate Lena Dunham because she exemplifies white women who claim to be progressive but stop as soon as their misogynoir is pointed out. Lena Dunham is a trash fire. You, Katie Herzog, don’t seem to get how much she has gaslighted and damaged women of color.

32

No mention that Lena swiftly, automatically, and publicly chose the side of her rapist male friend and threw the victim, a woman of color, under the bus without a second thought? This piece is a perfect example of why white feminism must be called out. Lena Dunham is a privileged millionaire who doesn't need you to defend her.

33

@24: What am I supposed to "own" Tom? i am nothing close to Lena Dunham, never have been and never will be. Go after the pearl clutching rich bitches who adore Donald Jackass Trump.

34

@32: I know, right?


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