It’s easy to criticise Lena Dunham. The actress, writer, producer and director has had her fair share of foot-in-mouth moments, with Twitter calling her out on everything from saying she wished she’d had an abortion, to the lack of diversity in Girls, to accusing a sports star of not wanting to hit on her. She does, however, use her platform to talk about ongoing and prevalent issues facing women, from reproductive rights to mental health. Her podcast, Women of the Hour, is a well-rounded exploration of the complexity of women’s lives, and she’s always vocal on social media about the issues that are important to her.
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Dunham has been very open about her recent uptake of exercise and healthy eating – something her Girls character, Hannah, was known for hating – and while there was always going to be chatter about her changing figure and speculation surrounding her motives, today she took to Instagram to shut down the trashy, sexist and invasive world of the media and paparazzi.
Her post shows the cover of a magazine with the headline "20 Slimdown DIET TIPS STARS ARE USING" next to a shot of Lena, photographed while out and about in New York. The photo is captioned, "LENA: HOW SHE GETS MOTIVATED". We’re used to seeing these crass and crap headlines on newsagents' shelves every day – it’s something we’ve come to accept, with an eye roll and wave of hand. But Dunham has clearly had enough. She proceeded to list the "20 tips" in a witty and telling rundown of the factors that can and do pressure women into being self-conscious about their weight.
In it, she takes a shot at the current state of US politics: "worrying ceaselessly about the health and safety of women you know and women you don’t"; "an election that reveals the true depths of American misogyny". Dunham also lists the physical symptoms of the endometriosis from which she suffers – "abdominal adhesions pinning ovary below uterus"; "bladder spasms, urinary frequency and urgency" – before, finally, taking a swipe at the media’s ravenous takedown of women everywhere: "having your phone number leaked and violent images texted to your phone by randos under names like VERYFATCHUCKYBOY@creepz.com"; "realizing that even the liberal media wants dem clicks no matter whut".
She ends with, "I have no tips I give no tips I don't want to be on this cover cuz it's diametrically opposed to everything I've fought my whole career for and it's not a compliment to me because it's not an achievement thanx". Can we get an amen? Women’s bodies aren’t here for the hungry media to consume, and everyone should just let her get on with running, or weightlifting or, you know, whatever the hell she wants.