Joan Rivers, the TV host/comedian, appeared on Howard Stern’s radio show, and for reasons that I’m not going to guess at, attacked Lena Dunham’s body. Dunham, who is famous (at least in part)) for looking like a human woman while nude on television, has endured far too much nastiness on account of her body from the concern trolls of the world. And this isn’t Ms. Rivers first foray. But it’s pretty ugly stuff, regardless.
By embracing her body image, and showing it to the world, Rivers said, Dunham is promoting obesity and poor health. She’s “sending a message out to people saying, ‘It’s OK! Stay fat! Get diabetes. Everybody die. Lose your fingers.”
Rivers also called Dunham a hypocrite for her Vogue Magazine cover shoot. “She was on Vogue’s cover looking gorgeous. You didn’t know it was her.”
GIF from Jezebel showing untouched and final images
Of course Rivers is only joking, ha ha ha, and would never really engage in this kind of vile behavior towards a young, successful, talented, attractive actress and writer like Lena Dunham. And any criticism sent towards Rivers is likely to be deflected because she’s a comedian and this is material.
Which is bullshit.
The Stake doesn’t typically engage in celebrity gossip, but several of us around here are Girls and Lena Dunham fans , and at least one of us (me) is the parent of a small child. And this kind of shaming is a problem. A real, tangible problem that leads to bad places.
Lena Dunham clearly doesn’t need me to defend her or her body (she’s not fat, by the way), but girls and boys of all ages do worry about what others are thinking, what kind of jokes others are making, about their bodies. Kids who don’t want people to see their bodies grow in to adults who are ashamed of their bodies. Passing the shame around, joking or not, serves nothing but the continuation of cultural shaming.
Joan Rivers and everyone else needs to knock this shit off.
I don’t know Lena Dunham, or the details of her life. But I admire her, and long have, for what she’s accomplished. Here are three things I choose to celebrate about Lena Dunham.
1. She’s ridiculously talented. Dunham’s HBO show Girls is not only expertly written and endlessly funny, but actually interesting. I know of no other show on television like Girls. And that is rare.
2. She’s a brave performer. Lena Dunham’s willingness to partake in nude scenes on Girls has become famous. What’s particularly interesting in this regard is not only Dunham’s participation in sex scenes (though there’s plenty), but also simply nude scenes with no sex. Female nudity, as a reality outside the realm of sexual performance is truly rare in TV and movies. That a woman’s body is not just for sex is a positive sentiment, and should be celebrated.
3. Her body has created a cultural space that allows bloggers and writers to create content about bodies and value. That, perhaps, is rarest of all. And best of all, she has a great sense of humor about that fact.
Reblogged this on Imarashed.
Chris, you can’t have it both ways. Either Dunham is fat and taking her clothes off while being overweight is important for our thin obsessed culture. Or Dunham isn’t fat and therefore her being naked on TV is no different from any other thin woman. Yet you claim Dunham isn’t fat and her taking her clothes off is some sort of message. So, which is it?
Are those really our only options JDM?
You’re saying we have two options: either fat or thin?
I would wager that most women-including Lena Dunham—are neither fat nor thin but just plain old women in the averages. Being a curvy woman with rolls doesn’t make one fat. And yes, being a curvy woman with rolls and doing nude scenes on Television is important for our thin obsessed culture.
Your reductionism is absurd here.
But shaming women for being fat (or thin, or anything) is the real problem here. The culture of shame is the target of this post.
I get the point of the post. The culture of shaming is disgusting and discouraging. But my comment is hardly absurd.
According to the CDC there are four weight categories. Underweight, normal, overweight, and obese. Both Dunham and I are in the overweight category. As far as I have ever known the word to be used fat means overweight. Dunham is not obese but she is not thin nor is she normal, at least by the standard definition. And that is why it is important for our thin obsessed culture. It is important to see people of all sizes as sexual and sexy and that is what Girls has going for it. Arguing that Dunham is just like everyone else is ridiculous. She is not, as the great SNL clip demonstrates. She is chubby and neurotic and awesome.
Well, that’s two more options that you started with, so I’ll take it.
I’d never argue that Dunham is just like everybody else.