Lena Dunham Says ‘Stop Equating Thinness With Happiness’ After Haters Mocked Her Weight Gain In Wedding Pictures
All bodies should be accepted.
Kirsty O'Connor/PA Images / Getty Images After sharing photos from her wedding, Lena Dunham is frustrated with the body shaming comments she’s been seeing about herself.
The ‘Girls’ writer and creator tied the knot with musician Luis Felber at the end of September. Though, a few days later, Dunham revealed that she’s had to take a step back from reading hateful Instagram comments about her weight.
Now, Lena Dunham is addressing her weight gain and responding to haters.
"I’ve created such intense boundaries with the internet over the past few years," Dunham wrote on Instagram, "It's a little too easy to feel the glow of support and forget about the cesspool lurking behind it – so I took a peek, and saw some gnarly sh*t, most not worth responding to or even sharing with you."
While Dunham usually ignores the hate that she receives on social media, she felt it necessary to speak up about the body-shamers that have been attacking her appearance.
“But one narrative I take issue with, largely because it's a story I don't want other women, other people, to get lodged in their heads is that I should somehow be ashamed because my body has changed since I was last on television,” Dunham continued.
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Dunham’s last appearance on the big screen was in Quentin Tarantino’s film, ‘Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood.’ Her last appearance on television was her guest role in ‘American Horror Story: Cult’ in 2017, as well as ‘Girls.’
In the HBO show ‘Girls,’ Dunham was often filming nude scenes, creating conversations around body acceptance, and showing that any body type should be celebrated on camera.
Dunham pointed out that her weight gain is part of her addiction recovery.
Dunham also pointed out that her weight gain isn’t a bad thing. The actress, who is now sober after a prescription drug addiction, compares that at her skinniest, she was also the most unhealthy.
"Of course weight loss can be the result of positive change in habits, but guess what? So can weight gain," Dunham said. "The pics I'm being compared to are from when I was in active addiction with undiagnosed illness. In the four years since I've gotten sober and begun my life as someone who aspires toward health and not just achievement."
Dunham previously opened up about her sobriety after becoming addicted to benzodiazepines and being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I thought medication was allowing me to be more myself," she said. "I can see all of the things that the world [brought] upon me. I don't blame myself for my illness; I don't blame myself for the sexual abuse I experienced; I don't blame myself for the physical abuse I experienced; I don't blame myself for the challenges of being a woman in this world, and an anxious woman in this world, and living in this body,” Dunham said while on Dax Shepherd’s podcast, ‘Armchair Expert.’
Lena Dunham has always been rather open about her weight gain, and that it doesn’t shame her, but instead gives her happiness.
No one should take away from that, especially body-shamers on the internet.
It doesn’t matter that it’s Lena Dunham, who has always been criticized on the internet for her different opinions and outwardly stances.
Despite all of Lena Dunham’s controversies, it doesn’t mean she should have to experience the pain of being shamed for her body, a body that she is proud to be in.
"I say this for any other person whose appearance has been changed with time, illness or circumstance," Dunham finished in her post. "It's okay to live in your present body without treating it as transitional. I am, and I'm really enjoying it. Love you all."
All bodies should always be accepted, because there is no such thing as a body that doesn’t belong.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.