Lena Dunham Reflects on Having Her Body "Dissected" During Girls Era

Lena Dunham will not be the voice—or main character—of this generation. 

Indeed, the 38-year-old recently shared why her experience starring in her 2010s comedy-drama Girls will keep her from leading her new 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 explained to the New Yorker in an interview published July 9. “Physically, I was just not up for having my body dissected again.”

And the writer, who detailed that she suffered both physically and mentally while working on Girls, noted that she instead wrote her new series—a somewhat autobiographical story about a 30-something American woman who moves to England—for Hacks star Meg Stalter. 

“It was a hard choice,” she confessed. “Not to cast Meg—because I knew I wanted Meg—but to admit that to myself. I used to think that winning meant you just keep doing it and you don’t care what anybody thinks. I forgot that winning is actually just protecting yourself and doing what you need to do to keep making work.”

Beyond the microscope she felt her body was under while starring in the HBO series—which was also led by Jemima Kirke, Allison Williams, Zosia Mamet and Adam Driver—Lena also noted that she was under a lot of pressure while spearheading Girls to maintain her image with constant press and public appearances.  

“The vibe was very much, like, ‘Women are in style right now: go, go, go,’” she recalled. “I want to be really clear that there’s no one where I’m going, ‘This is the villain in my story.’ The villain is the mass consciousness around female bodies and what they do versus what they should do.”

These days, the Catherine Called Birdy director—who married musician Luis Farber in 2021—explained that she doesn’t even run her own social media accounts. Noting that she never liked the attention that came with starring in her Emmy-winning series, she prefers a quieter life after permanently relocating to London, England in 2021.  

“That level of scrutiny does not make me feel powerful,” she clarified. “It does not make me feel, like, I’ll show you. What makes me feel powerful is making my work. It’s the only thing I want to do. It is my only love in life aside from the people who are closest to me and my pets and books.”

To see how more stars responded to body shamers, keep reading…

"NBD but I just achieved a major milestone as a woman online," Reese Witherspoon and ex-husband Ryan Phillippe's daughter wrote in a TikTok video posted May 3. "I saw 2 different strangers commenting on my body."

She continued, "The first said I should get on Oz*mpic because I'm too fat. The second accused me of starving myself because I'm too thin. My weight did not change in the time period between their comments. (& it wouldn't be any of their business if it did!)"

Ava said that "no one deserves to be picked apart for what they look like." She added, "You don't always know what someone's gone through or what they struggle with. But no matter who you are... Your beauty exceeds such superficial measures."

After receiving body-shaming comments, the "I"m Good" singer clapped back at the critics and explained why she's tired of receiving criticism over her appearance. "I know I got fat," she captioned her June 23 tweet. "I'm just so sick of people talking about it. NEXT!!!!!!"

In a separate post, the 33-year-old added, "Human beings go through weight fluctuations," she continued, "it's life and you don't know what people are going through. Meds, disease, etc..."

After some critics accused the House Bunny actress of looking too skinny in an Instagram photo, the star fired back, writing, "I know I don't need to do this but in an effort to spread some awareness and shed some light on body shaming tactics i felt the need to share. After the barrage of some really inappropriate comments left on my pic I posted yesterday I was left really bummed cause I was really enjoying the silly pics I took. It was a weird angle that even made me feel life I looked smaller than I do in real life. But regardless even though you may think it's your job or even your right to leave unfiltered thoughts or judgements about my body for me and others to read... it's not."

"Coming for me in my comments and telling me how I'm too skinny or I need to eat is absolutely not helpful and extremely body shaming," she continued."Body shaming of any kind is something I will not stand for."

More than a week later, she shared a photo of herself sunbathing in a bikini, writing, "For the haters….with love and gratitude kindly [kiss emoji] my [peach emoji], I'll keep smiling regardless [peace sign emoji]."

 

In February 2021, the actress was the target of public pregnancy speculation, based on online photos of her wearing a dark blue tank top on set in Australia. She called out the news outlet that posted them in a rare Instagram Story post, writing, "Hey, so I'm totally not pregnant...but apparently, it's still OK in 2021 for anyone to speculate and comment on a woman's body shape whenever they want? Do better @nypost."

The Flip or Flop star spoke out after online trolls kept judging her appearance on social media. "People are commenting that I look really skinny or that I need to eat," she said on an Instagram Story video on Friday, Feb. 7. "This is actually the weight I've always weighed... You guys have just watched me have babies and then go back to my original weight. So don't worry, everything's fine."

Following her split from Jim Edmonds, the former Bravo star asked fans to stop leaving messages about her figure. "'Eat a burger.' That's what they say. I'll be real with you: I'm too thin," she shared on Instagram in December 2019. "But please, I deserve some grace. I am doing the damn thing with all of the dignity I can muster as I put my kiddos before anything else."

After being called "too skinny," the legendary singer addressed the negative comments, telling Entertainment Tonight, "Is there anything wrong about my body? I've always been very thin. I do ballet. I do a lot of stretching and I work out because it helps my mind, body and soul."

"If you don't want to be criticized, you are in the wrong place. I take what's good for me. I leave behind what is not good for me," she explained. "I let my management take care of that, and if it hurts anyone, they will take care of that. And I need to focus on what's right for me, how I feel and, last but not least, you can't please everybody."

In June 2020, the "Good as Hell" singer had a message for body shamers. "Hey, so I've been working out consistently for the last five years, and it may come as a surprise to some of y'all that I'm not working out to have your ideal body type," she said in a TikTok video. "I'm working out to have my ideal body type, and you know what type that is? None of your f--king business, because I am beautiful, I am strong, I do my job and I stay on my job."

The "Confident" singer has always been open about speaking against body shamers. She told Glamour in 2016, "If somebody calls me fat, even in a vulnerable moment, I laugh to myself and think, I'm doing everything I can, so there's nothing I can do about it." She added, "I don't have a six-pack. Maybe I don't even want a six-pack. It doesn't sound very appealing."

After the Oscar winner shared a naked photo of herself online, one commenter criticized her post in a since-deleted tweet, "Imagine being in your 50s, still posting nudes for attention in menopause when you should be chilling with the grandkids. Aging with dignity is no longer a thing."

Halle then clapped back with a cheeky response, "Did you guys know the heart of a shrimp is located in its head?" 

The "Señorita" star previously took to Instagram Stories to send a message to her haters. "I haven't gone on social media AT ALL with the conscious intention of avoiding things that hurt my feelings," she began her lengthy post. "My eyes accidentally ran over a head line of people 'body shaming me.' Honestly, first thing I felt was super insecure over just IMAGINING what these pictures must look like, oh no! My cellulite! Oh no! I didn't suck in my stomach! But then I was like...of course there are bad pictures, of course there are bad angles, my body's not made of f--king rock, or all muscles, for that matter. But the saddest part of young girls growing up in an airbrushed world is they're seeking a perfection that's not real. I'm writing this for girls like my little sister who are growing up on social media. They're constantly seeing photoshopped, edited pictures and thinking that's reality and everyone's eyes get used to seeing airbrushed skin, and suddenly they think THAT'S norm. It isn't. It's fake. AND FAKE IS BECOMING THE NEW REAL. We have a completely unrealistic view of a woman's body. Girls, cellulite is normal. fat is normal. It's beautiful and natural. I won't buy into the bulls--t today!!!!  Not today satan and I hope you don't either."

In May 2019, the singer posted a video of herself performing at Hangout Music Festival in a black leotard. After seeing the video, a social media user tweeted, "Okay don't mean to disrespect but aint too thiccccck!?? I mean never saw her like that BEFORE!! from the song with other two country dudes!!" However, the pop star quickly clapped back, replying, "I gained weight get over it."

She also called out the fashion industry after she claimed several designers refused to dress her for the Grammys because of her size. "Empower women to love their bodies instead of making girls and women feel less then [sic] by their size," she shared on Instagram in January 2019. "We are beautiful any size! Small or large! Anddddd My size 8 ass is still going to the Grammys. #LOVEYOURBODY."

The celeb previously posted a picture of her family celebrating after her husband Stephen Curry and his Golden State Warriors teammates beat the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. In the photo, the star can be seen holding her son Canon. A follower then asked, "Are you pregnant again?"

"Absolutely not LOL," she replied at the time. "My 30 lb son is just breaking my back in every photo."

Another commenter then wrote, "If that kid is 30lbs he's got some serious health issues going on." The cookbook author shut the shamer down, saying, "Excuse you? No. Just no."

Just a week after she welcomed her baby, the podcast host took to Instagram to send a message to her followers.

"A few things because honestly I'm so frustrated and I need to vent this," she wrote in December 2018. "I wanted to post this photo (showing my stomach) because I wanted to show my journey back to healthy and my goodness I'm so glad I didn't which is why this photo is now cropped. It's amazing the comments and how rude some people can be from my last photo I took yesterday. A few things, no I didn't get a tummy tuck, no I don't have a personal chef, no I don't have fortunes so I didn't train everyday. Yes I had a c section, yes I am still in pain and on meds but I do have a high pain tolerance. I have had 3 stomach surgeries before this (appendix, gallbladder, and c section).. In that photo I had a belly bandit wrapped tightly, and high waisted pants and wow here I am defending myself. Why?!? If I would have posted the photo of my actual stomach in this photo I would have probably been shamed too even when I was wanting to be vulnerable with my journey. Why do we women have to compare ourselves to each other and then shame? I say this to myself as much as I say this to y'all...why can't it be that we are all different. Our bodies are all beautiful and crafted differently, they heal different, they react different, they simply look different. Why do we need to shame someone for not looking a certain way? Or feel bad about ourselves for looking a certain way? Can we be kinder to ourselves and know that every women has a different journey but yet we are all beautiful? Can we lift women up but not tear yourself down in the process with comparing? Let's give that a try.....I love y'all. Back to my baby."

Back in April 2018, the Fuller House star shared a picture of herself enjoying a dinner with her son Lev Bure. A troll then commented, "All that [exercising], and you still look like you weigh more than your husband, did you change your diet?"

However, the actress was quick to shut down the hater. "If a 25 inch waist looks big to you…then you're looking through an altered lens. Be well," she replied.

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