Even the Lefties are Piling on Lena Dunham After her Latest Gaffe
By Ian Miles Cheong Heat Street
Despite being heralded as a leading feminist icon, Lena Dunham is almost universally loathed.
Although sometimes referred to as the voice of a generation by out of touch journalists pushing her agenda, she’s actually despised by nearly everyone from all corners of the political spectrum–left to right. Contrary to the prevailing narrative, many members of the progressive left find her as problematic as the rest of us find her hypocritical.
Dunham first found fame for her hit HBO show, Girls, which depicts a group of 20-somethings living in the New York City. The show fielded strong criticism for its depiction (or rather lack thereof) of minorities, but its surging popularity boosted Dunham into the limelight. She’s been making headlines ever since—usually as a crusader for feminism and social justice. Her outfit at the Met Gala, which saw her sporting a tuxedo, was described as “genderbending” by the New York Times, as if she did so to promote an argument for gender equality. How stunning and brave.
After her recent spotlight appearance at the DNC, where she spoke in support of Hillary Clinton, Dunham once again appeared in the news—this time for expressing surprise that football player Odell Beckham, Jr. displayed no sexual interest in her at the aforementioned gala. Wrapped in the language of social justice, Dunham’s statements about the athlete betrayed a deep sense of entitlement towards how she expects others to treat her — including removing their agency and condemning them when they refuse to play into her fantasies.
But this was far from the first time she’s faced criticism.
Dunham took a lot of heat from the right after she was accused of sexually abusing her little sister based on what she wrote in her memoir, Not That Kind of Girl. She responded to these allegations by slamming her detractors on Twitter. The passages have been described as “honest and awkward” in the style of her other works, but they definitely describe sexual molestation. Given that her own sister, Grace, has spoken in defense of her, it was never enough to ruin her reputation. However, the way in which she responded to her critics only worsened her relationship with everyone who wasn’t already a hardcore fan.
Lena Dunham may receive adoration from the mainstream media, but that doesn’t mean everyone’s on the same page. The Cauldron at Sports Illustrated recently published a piece condemning Dunham as a “fuckboy” for being a “self-absorbed, oblivious, straight girl of straight girls” who “would think she was being edgy by wearing a fucking suit” in response to her comments about Odell Beckham, Jr.
Writing for The Mary Sue, Keisha Hatchett called out Dunham for her long history of making racist statements about non-whites, and for treating black men like sex pigs. Elsewhere, Ebony.com featured a scathing piece about how Dunham manages to get away with being terrible all the time because of her reputation as a white feminist. The author argues that her remarks, regardless of her later apologies, damage the public’s perception of black men and boys through objectification.
Yes, men are also sexually objectified to their detriment.
Criticizing Lena Dunham from a completely different angle, Paste Magazine’s Michael Howard called her a “vulgar propagandist whose supposed empathy doesn’t extend beyond the margins of her own very narrow perspective” because of her support for Hillary Clinton. The writer also went on to call her defense of the Democratic candidate “dishonest and hypocritical” after she claimed Clinton was fighting for women’s rights the world over, when in fact the candidate has supported Saudi Arabia, whose government actively suppresses women and even punishes them for being victims of rape.
Previously, feminist writer Samantha Allen addressed on The Daily Beast how Dunham’s statements on race, which are actually really racist, failed to sink her reputation when they would anyone else’s. Dunham once admitted she cared more about stray dogs than the poverty stricken people she ran into during her visit to India. Allen chalked up Dunham’s bulletproof reputation to the efforts of her “white feminist” (as opposed to intersectional feminists, who have no love for her) friends. People like Lindy West, Clementine Ford and Meghan Murphy have all publicly defended her mistakes.
Given Lena Dunham’s penchant for sticking her foot in her mouth over the years, it’ll be interesting to see if she remains “teflon,” as Allen describes, with her more recent (or recently discovered) statements. I’d bet that the answer is “yes,” but that doesn’t mean she’s as beloved as they’d like to make us believe.
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He deserves to be hated.
