# Dear Lena Dunham: get on a horse, and ride as far, far away from us as possible **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 15, 2016, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753 "2016-12-15T06:24:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/41 "2016-12-16T00:08:19Z")
> [@edwards\_beard](#): > > Actually it means everything. The statement brought up was the same argument could be made about Louis C.K.'s career. > > Lena Dunham started on third base with everything handed to her, and has written only about her own life. > > Louis C.K. started at home plate, wrote two shows, numerous stand up specials, one of which he pioneered how an artist could distribute their content directly to their fans from their own website, which numerous comedians have done since. He then wrote a web series and distributed by himself as well. (not to mention he does pretty much everything behind the scenes on Louie - writing, directing, starring, editing video and sound) > > Forgot to add…he also asked Donald Rumsfeld if he was a lizard person during an interview. I disagree. Having connections certainly helps you get your foot in the door. But once you are put in front of that spotlight, it’s all you. And for Lena to accomplish what she’s accomplished, is no small feat. The third base analogy works with business mogul types. Not so much in Lena’s case. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/42 "2016-12-16T08:00:07Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I’m not a huge fan of her work, and i find her rather annoying for a number of reasons, but this is an incredibly unfair assessment. > > She hasn’t just played a character; she is the creator, the main writer and, in a considerable number of episodes, the director of _Girls_. She and the show have been nominated for numerous Emmy awards, have won Golden Globes, and Dunham has received Directors Guild of America awards. She has also written a book which made it to #2 on the NYT Bestsellers list. > > Whether or not you like her, the show, or her book, that’s a lot more than just “playing Lena Dunham clones.” And she also confessed, in said bestselling book, to molesting her sister. Fuck her. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/43 "2016-12-16T08:07:49Z")
If nice guys can’t complain about no dates, and I can’t complain about being invisible to the college women in yoga pants, then Dunham can’t complain about being plain in NYC. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/44 "2016-12-16T08:12:04Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > And she also confessed, in said bestselling book, to molesting her sister. Fuck her. Not sure how that relates to my argument, which was specifically about the extent of her involvement with her various artistic productions. If i had defended her by arguing that she was a nice person, or that i wanted her to be my best friend, or that she was a non-molester of siblings, or that sister-molesting was a-ok, you’d have a point. But my observation has nothing to do with her personal character or morality, so you don’t. My single argument in this thread is that it is inappropriate to describe her career as “doing little more than playing Lena Dunham clones.” To the extent that artistic assessments can be factual, that is a factually incorrect description of her work. If i were to move beyond that issue to address the more specific questions of sexism and body image raised by the OP, my general observation would probably be quite similar to that offered upthread by **WOOKINPANUB** and **Little Nemo**. FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/45 "2016-12-16T11:55:40Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Yikes – what is he on? His ninth decade of existence. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/46 "2016-12-16T17:43:38Z")
What does the OP have against our equine-Americans? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/47 "2016-12-16T18:46:03Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > And she also confessed, in said bestselling book, to molesting her sister. Fuck her. Depends upon whose interpretation of the passage one believes, especially when one considers it was supposedly done when she was 7. ---
**Author:** ![Dobbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Dobbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dobbs)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/48 "2016-12-16T18:52:55Z")
Does anyone know who took the picture, and under what circumstances? ---
**Author:** ![stofsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@stofsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stofsky)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/49 "2016-12-16T19:12:23Z")
> [@Randolph](#): > > It’s _ **Hedley** _! Randolph Scott!!! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/50 "2016-12-16T20:06:57Z")
> [@edwards\_beard](#): > > Actually it means everything. The statement brought up was the same argument could be made about Louis C.K.'s career. > > Lena Dunham started on third base with everything handed to her, and has written only about her own life. > > Louis C.K. started at home plate, wrote two shows, numerous stand up specials, one of which he pioneered how an artist could distribute their content directly to their fans from their own website, which numerous comedians have done since. He then wrote a web series and distributed by himself as well. (not to mention he does pretty much everything behind the scenes on Louie - writing, directing, starring, editing video and sound) > > Forgot to add…he also asked Donald Rumsfeld if he was a lizard person during an interview. I happened to be listening to the interview live. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/xz_gy7-bOoo/maxresdefault.jpg "Are You A Lizard") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz_gy7-bOoo) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/51 "2016-12-16T21:38:37Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > What does the OP have against our equine-Americans? And does it have a name? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/52 "2016-12-16T21:57:51Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > And does it have a name? [Sarah Jessica Parker](https://sarahjessicaparkerlookslikeahorse.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/016.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/53 "2016-12-16T22:30:39Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I’m fat and I don’t care! > You’re fat. > How dare you call me fat! > > Repeat Well, yeah. They’re two different things. Let’s say you say you’re proud to be a police officer. And, in that pride, you put up a picture of yourself dressed like a police officer and doing police officer things. Then everyone yells and says it’s gross and horrible, even though there are these fire fighters who have put up the same type of picture and everyone loves them. She posted a photo that points out the hypocrisy. People say they don’t care if you’re fat, but then, if you do what the skinny people do, they suddenly care. They do in fact want you to act differently. I’ll admit that I see nothing in Dunham’s work that appeals to me, but I think it’s ridiculous to get angry at her. If you don’t like her, then why in the world do you even pay attention to her, let alone have enough anger to make a Pit thread? She’s an anti-body shaming activist, among other things. And she posted a photo about body shaming. Then she got people angry enough that people who hate her found out about it, and wind up spreading her message for her. I’d say “don’t feed the troll,” but, in this case, I personally approve of the troll’s message, and so don’t really care. Outside of maybe finding a mate, there’s no reason that a fat or ugly woman should be treated differently than a pretty one. It’s not like being pretty makes them better at acting/lawyering/etc. It’s the content of their character and abilities that matter, not the shape of their bodies. And I say that even though I weirdly don’t find Dunham even as aesthetically pleasing as I do many other people with her body shape. I just don’t look at her naked, rather than get upset. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/54 "2016-12-16T23:49:14Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Depends upon whose interpretation of the passage one believes, especially when one considers it was supposedly done when she was 7. Seven? Fuck me. Can one even really call that molesting, in any true sense of the word? I knew nothing about this issue until it was raised in this thread, and i assumed it much have been when she was a teenager or something. While i understand that kids often still know right from wrong, and can understand that they shouldn’t do certain things, i’m not going to pillory someone for as an adult for something they did at seven years old. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/55 "2016-12-17T00:03:59Z")
[Obligatory Onion article.](http://www.theonion.com/article/next-episode-of-girls-to-feature-lena-dunham-shitt-31661) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/56 "2016-12-17T01:11:25Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > [Sarah Jessica Parker](https://sarahjessicaparkerlookslikeahorse.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/016.jpg) I know this is just a joke (at least I assume) but it kind of reinforces Ms. Dunham’s stance on the heinous crime of not being “Hollywood beautiful”. As to **Big T.'s** point, I can agree in a way, but I find when I don’t agree with certain attitudes and actions, I simply don’t participate in them. She doesn’t just simply go about her life, producing her art and expressing her views; she goes way the hell overboard to the point that her message is lost. We get it; she doesn’t buy into the whole beautiful celebrity bullshit and I can get behind that. I think the way she normally presents herself-including the way she appears at red carpet affairs-illustrates her views on the subject. Taking a tasteless picture of oneself on the toilet is always going to be unattractive. Look at Merle Streep or Francis McDormand (sp.). Hardly glamour queens, but nobody cares. And even if people did, they wouldn’t deign to acknowledge it. To me, that’s what living your credo looks like. Not going out of your way to look extra bad and then complaining that people think you look extra bad. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/57 "2016-12-17T01:59:00Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > … > > . I wish I looked like Robert Redford and had a swimmers body. Women would be throwing themselves at me, too. … Trust me, It gets old fast. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/58 "2016-12-17T02:33:23Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > [Sarah Jessica Parker](https://sarahjessicaparkerlookslikeahorse.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/016.jpg) No shit! I don’t check out celebrity shit or memes (and I have no friends) so I thought I was the only one that always thought, “where’s the bag of oats?” > [@BigT](#): > > Well, yeah. They’re two different things… No they aren’t. You don’t get to say, “I’m not conventionally attractive and somewhat overweight - see” and then when people say, “Hey, you aren’t conventionally attractive and are somewhat overweight.” Respond with, “Bastard! How dare you shame me.” If you are cool with who you are and what you are you DON’T go out of your way to attract attention to it. You just go about your business. That is the very definition of being secure. So, yet again, shut the fuck up you Hectoring nit-shit. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/59 "2016-12-17T03:14:05Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I’m fat and I don’t care! > You’re fat. > How dare you call me fat! > > Repeat That was Amy Schumer not Lena Dunham ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753/60 "2016-12-17T03:15:09Z")
I thought her thing was, “I’m a slut, I’m a slut, I’m a… what did you say I am?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lena-dunham-get-on-a-horse-and-ride-as-far-far-away-from-us-as-possible/774753.md?page=2)