C/D LENA DUNHAM (THE DEFINITIVE POLL)

I have little doubt the New Republic's only editorial interest in this story is merely to throw mud at a celebrity who strongly and publically identifies as a liberal. That is a shitty position, regardless of how one views Lena Dunham's revelations about her seven-year old sexual activities with her sister. The NR is, if anything, victimizing the sister yet again for their own political purposes.

The writer in question, Kevin D. williamson, has been dumping on Dunham a bit as of late.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/390591/lena-dunham-and-barry-kevin-d-williamson

And there is another piece about voting that I can't find right now wherein he harps to savage extent on her liberalness.

Nobody accused her of that, the article in question just quoted the text in which Dunham compared herself as a sexual predator.
--Van Horn Street

Isn't the title of the article in question "Lena Dunham describes sexually abusing her sister"?

Wait, here we go: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/388945/five-reasons-why-youre-too-dumb-vote-kevin-d-williamson

this is what gawker's obsession with her is about tho, right? That's always how I've taken it.

― Matt Armstrong, Monday, November 3, 2014 8:12 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

emily gould hasn't worked there in several years iirc

Emily Gould is straight up making fun of "social justice warrior womanists" for their response to this - as if womanist is a corny tumblrism and not a term invented by women of color who felt excluded by white feminism

bc pathologizing of behaviors that the mainstream determines are not 'normal' has a not proud history of oppressing for example gay people

― deej loaf (D-40), Monday, November 3, 2014 9:02 PM (54 minutes ago)

sure but the statement makes no sense in this particular context. these things are very clearly not normal and it's not simply a matter of wearing straight ppl goggles

Whoa. Being gay is normal. Looking at your one year old sister's vagina to see what it looks like is, like, controlling, domineering behavior.

She was 7 years old.

Do you guys know how young 7 is? That child is not the same person who today, as a 28 y/o is writing about it. And unless you've read the book I don't know how you can determine that her attitude toward thjs is incorrect or not reflective enough. In terms of her later controlling relationship with her sister, from what i can tell she is interrogating that in her book, not saying it is good. But even if you don't accept that -- which is fine -- the weird adult behavior (outing her sister, even the masturbation anecdote) is not molestation, and the issue is that people are accusing her of sexually abusing her sister. That is such a serious charge.

And the right wing attempts to brand her as a deviant is totally sbout heteronormativity as well as misogyny.

You can like her or not like her or think she is creepy or whatever but please think about where this narrative is coming from. If other corners of the internet who disliked her for other reasons have seized on this too, i'm sorry but they are being opportunistic, even if most of the rest if their critique of her is valid

Dunham has spent the last year, in her political pronouncements, being a tool of Christine Quinn and Andrew Cuomo. She's about as liberal as Hillary Rodham.

(I know people's definition of "liberal" is generally built around gay rights and abortion, the only two issues that matter -- bombs away and call my stockbroker!)

She's preferable to the guy who started this, who once said that women who get abortions should be hanged.

There are imperfect, compromised figures and then there is the right wing. The latter hate lena dunham for very shitty reasons.

saying that we have to "take sides" is kind of facile, dude

i feel like this conversation will go in the right direction now

you can refuse to participate in (and actively denounce) the obviously sexist right-wing campaign against her without refusing to acknowledge that some of this shit and her attitude about it is pretty messed up xp

sure but the statement makes no sense in this particular context. these things are very clearly not normal and it's not simply a matter of wearing straight ppl goggles

― k3vin k., Monday, November 3, 2014 9:01 PM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

there was a time when being gay was "very clearly not normal"...

deej...

Emily Gould is straight up making fun of "social justice warrior womanists" for their response to this - as if womanist is a corny tumblrism and not a term invented by women of color who felt excluded by white feminism

― jello my future biafriend (roxymuzak), Monday, November 3, 2014 8:27 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah that was completely absurd

anyway a bunch of dudes debating this at 1030 at night probably isn't the best look so imma call it a night

The headlines about this say stuff like "dunham responds to sexual abuse allegations" not "let's take a look, together, at some of the problematic ways dunham framed sensitive topics in her book". The sexist smear campaign is the issue.

deej...

― k3vin k., Monday, November 3, 2014 9:38 PM (4 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i'm not saying they're equivalent dude. this is about where society decides to draw lines about moral behavior & accusing a child of being a sexual abuser is, again, a serious charge to level at someone!

^^^^^^^^

http://cdn7.staztic.com/app/a/1261/1261928/secret-code-pebbles-game-918139-0-s-307x512.jpg

Oh great hunangarage is here

hungry for hunan

ok i finally get what the heck lena's being defended from - that this is one of those "does committing an act that can be described as racist/sexist/abusive/etc make you a racist/sexist/abuser/etc" things

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rijpU5yD55I

This is turning into another thing I regret even trying to form an opinion about

heh

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_maunbgmgd91qcd94wo3_500.gif

ok i finally get what the heck lena's being defended from - that this is one of those "does committing an act that can be described as racist/sexist/abusive/etc make you a racist/sexist/abuser/etc" things

― da croupier, Monday, November 3, 2014 9:49 PM (34 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i mean, sort of, if the question is about a memorialist writing about when they were a child

This is turning into another thing I regret even trying to form an opinion about
― my jaw left (Hurting 2), Tuesday, November 4, 2014

"She didn't resist" is a particularly weird phrase for lena to use in this passage

If other corners of the internet who disliked her for other reasons have seized on this too, i'm sorry but they are being opportunistic, even if most of the rest if their critique of her is valid

otm. People who already hated LD have been depressingly quick to follow the conservative blogosphere's lead here.

Don't think so. For all of it's flaws, the Democratic Party is supposed to be the party of the unions, the working people.

As an urbanite, I've gotten into far too many arguments with artiste types about not publicly misrepresenting left politics, or outright misunderstanding them.

I understand the left criticism of someone like Dunham. We don't need any more urban wealthy artists attaching themselves to political candidates.

I mean, you go to these people's houses and they read "On Our Backs" and have bondage gear lying around then they support Hillary Clinton and other lukewarm liberals...because they oppose the EVIL ONES, the fundamentalist right that oppresses white women.

This is not the way to win elections. NRO criticized Dunham - they've done far worse to less fortunate people. You write a confessional memoir and then you attach yourself to liberal politics - fair game. Is NR supposed to quit publishing?

wat

I'm not exactly sure what that post is getting at, but Lena Dunham is quite clearly shaking out to be a centrist Clintonite democrat at the core, not a leftist in any sense.

I mean, you go to these people's houses and they read "On Our Backs" and have bondage gear lying around then they support Hillary Clinton and other lukewarm liberals

Oh, THOSE people

Is NR supposed to quit publishing?

let us pray

huh

people, people, if we're talking about her, Lena Wins.

pretty sure no one is winning here

the Democratic Party is supposed to be the party of the unions, the working people.

let me introduce you to 1992.

I think this whole thing is a good example of the inadequacy of twitter to certain situations

certain situations?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/04/will-white-feminists-finally-dump-lena-dunham.html

I didn't say Dunham was "leftist", I'm not sure how you read that. Urbanites, controversial artists - they are read as "left" by everyone else.

Feminism is, at root, a left movement.