Lena Dunham Says Her Body Was An "Object Of Scorn" During "Girls"
This post contains discussion of body image issues.
April marked the 13th anniversary of HBO's Girls, and as someone who made the series their entire personality, I celebrated by rewatching every season for the umpteenth time.
If you can't believe how much I emulate this show, ask my coworkers how many snacks I bring to my desk and weekly brainstorms.
Girls premiered on HBO on April 15, 2012, and over a decade later, the show entered a renaissance, resonating with new audiences and gaining popularity online.
The series, which starred Lena Dunham, Adam Driver, Alex Karpovsky, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet, Andrew Rannells, and Allison Williams, is, in my opinion, a cultural phenomenon.
Roy Rochlin / FilmMagic, Michael Buckner / Getty Images for SXSW, Alessio Botticelli/GC Images
In light of Girls' anniversary, star and creator Lena Dunham reflected on her appreciation for the show and recalled the scrutiny surrounding her body image.
In a lengthy April 30 Instagram post, Lena wrote, "Every year around the time that Girls initially premiered (April 2012) I get kind of contemplative, brooding even. We all have anniversaries- good and bad- that send us off in search of something."
"Heck, I can be launched Blue Origin style into a nostalgia trip when the sun shines a certain way through the curtains! For me, April will always be when life changed- in ways both magical (I'm still here! With you! Making things!) and confounding."
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"On the one hand, it was a nightmare because it confirmed everything I thought I knew, affirmed all the 7th grade ghosts living in my head," she continued. "But it also forced me to accept, swiftly and gratefully, the ways in which to live in a body is to dance constantly with our collective fear and disgust at fallibility, mortality and imperfection."
She added, "There is almost nothing that scares us more than the truth of what our bodies are, and that- even with all these modern tools- their fate is so often out of our control."
Lena learned to accept herself in the face of "aging, illness, scrapes and scars" and her decadelong battle with endometriosis. "This body had already been an object of scorn and so the rest of the road smoothed out before me," she said.
"I no longer believed that being thinner, taller, or tanner would save me. No hair mask or control top briefs were coming to fight on my behalf. I was alerted to the fact that the only shield we have is our voice, our art, our dreams, our relationships."
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This isn't the first time Lena has reflected on the experience of her body being scrutinized during Girls. In a 2024 interview with The New Yorker, Lena shared why she decided not to star in her upcoming Netflix series Too Much. "I was not willing to have another experience like what I'd experienced around Girls at this point in my life," she said. "Physically, I was just not up for having my body dissected again."
Too Much will instead star Megan Stalter as a 30-something woman who falls in love with a British musician (played by Will Sharpe) after moving to London. "It was a hard choice, not to cast Meg — because I knew I wanted Meg — but to admit that to myself."
Maya Dehlin Spach / WireImage, Kate Green / Getty Images
Lena's lengthy post sparked a lot of positive reactions, with fans resonating with her openness and what Girls meant to them.
"Your show conforted me when I was 32, and this year, at my 45 conforted me again. I have seen "GIRLS" 3 times, and I'm amazed of how shuch a young girl could explain certain complicated things in such a brilliant way. Thank you for your bravery and your talent. For being so honest and raw. I truly look at you with big admiration. ❤️," Spanish film actor and writer Núria Gago wrote.
"You are astonishing and your brilliant show cracked so much open for so many," Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, wrote.
Another user said, "i love you so much and owe you so much. culture had to catch up to you. i am so grateful you are around."
This person said, "Seeing a body like mine changed my life as a teenager and actress. Thank you for the gift that is Girls."
Someone wrote, "you are the voice of my generation and always will be. GIRLS IS FOREVER."
This person said, "Not to be dramatic, but you changed the world ❤️🩷" and I completely agree with the sentiment.
Finally, another person wrote, "I hope you know that GIRLS is and always will be one of the best TV shows of all time! ❤️"
I can't until the Girls anniversary next year — and that's on Hannah Horvath, Marnie Michaels, Shoshannah Shapiro, and Jessa Johansson.
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