Lena Dunham put a halt to her international book tour this past weekend after disturbing passages from her new memoir, Not That Kind of Girl, went viral and led to child molestation allegations.
Dunham wrote on Twitter that her words, which were quoted directly from her book, were twisted around to fit a specific agenda.
The right wing news story that I molested my little sister isn’t just LOL- it’s really fucking upsetting and disgusting.
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) November 1, 2014
According to some of her feminist counterparts, what’s upsetting and disturbing may be Dunham’s own writing. On (p. 158-9) the author reflects on a time she examined her younger sister Grace’s vagina:
“Do we all have uteruses?” I asked my mother when I was seven.
“Yes,” she told me. “We’re born with them, and with all our eggs, but they start out very small. And they aren’t ready to make babies until we’re older.” I look at my sister, now a slim, tough one-year-old, and at her tiny belly. I imagined her eggs inside her, like the sack of spider eggs in Charlotte’s Web, and her uterus, the size of a thimble.
“Does her vagina look like mine?”
“I guess so,” my mother said. “Just smaller.”
One day, as I sat in our driveway in Long Island playing with blocks and buckets, my curiosity got the best of me. Grace was sitting up, babbling and smiling, and I leaned down between her legs and carefully spread open her vagina. She didn’t resist and when I saw what was inside I shrieked.
My mother came running. “Mama, Mama! Grace has something in there!”
My mother didn’t bother asking why I had opened Grace’s vagina. This was within the spectrum of things I did. She just got on her knees and looked for herself. It quickly became apparent that Grace had stuffed six or seven pebbles in there. My mother removed them patiently while Grace cackled, thrilled that her prank had been a success.
Women who claim to be liberals and feminists, similar to Dunham, are disturbed by her revelations and have since turned to social media to discuss her behavior.
I am a Democrat. I am a Feminist. I think that Lena Dunham molested her sister.
— Caroline Skelton (@skeltoncaroline) November 3, 2014
I’m sorry,I’m a woman,a feminist,a Liberal,&VERY accepting of others’ choices,BUT Lena Dunham is MORE than wrong about sister! #UniteBlue
— Jackie (@thedahlimmama) November 3, 2014
As a feminist/sexual abuse survivor, I’m very disturbed by wider feminism’s defense of Lena Dunham for everything she’s done to her sister.
— Misandry Paige (@MsAshleighPaige) November 3, 2014
As a feminist, I’d never heard of Lena Dunham. She does not speak for the movement I support.
— Ashley Lambeast (@ALambeast) November 3, 2014
Also in her new book, Dunham accused a “mustachioed campus Republican” named Barry of raping her when she was 19-years-old. Recent reports by Breitbart News suggest the Girls star, a campus sexual assault activist, hasn’t helped law enforcement with the investigation of the alleged crimes.
Dunham has spent the last several months advocating through Twitter for reproductive rights, trying to keep sexist politicians out of office, while also promoting her new book. She’s been so proactive on social media, she even released a stream of PSA’s urging women to vote ahead of the midterms.
In light of the child molestation allegations and a major loss for the Democratic party on Tuesday, Dunham has gone silent on Twitter. While a majority of Hollywood spent election day promoting their various causes, Dunham hasn’t said a word. She did apologize to her fans in Germany for canceling her book tour.
In the midst of the controversy, the Guardian released an interview Sunday in which Dunham summed up her goals as a modern-day feminist.
“If feminism has to become a brand in order to fully engulf our culture and make change, I’m not complaining,” she said.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.