Lena Dunham Responded To A Right-Wing Website Claiming She Sexually Abused Her Sister

In Lena Dunham’s memoir Not That Kind of Girl, the retro cover for which will be a fixture on my wife’s bed stand for the next 17 years, she writes about the first time she saw a vagina that wasn’t hers. It happened when she was a curious seven-year-old. She asked her mother, “Do we all have uteruses?” and her mom responded, “Yes. We’re born with them, and with all our eggs, but they start out very small. And they aren’t ready to make babies until we’re older.” Meanwhile, at seven, I was watching Rocko’s Modern Life and guzzling Surge (20 years later, I still do that). Here’s the rest of the passage:

“Does [Lena’s little sister Grace’s] vagina look like mine?”

“I guess so,” my mother said. “Just smaller.”

One day, as I sat in our driveway in Long Island playing with blocks and buckets, my curiosity got the best of me. Grace was sitting up, babbling and smiling, and I leaned down between her legs and carefully spread open her vagina. She didn’t resist and when I saw what was inside I shrieked.

My mother came running. “Mama, Mama! Grace has something in there!”

My mother didn’t bother asking why I had opened Grace’s vagina. This was within the spectrum of things I did. She just on her knees and looked for herself. It quickly became apparent that Grace had stuffed six or seven pebbles in there. My mother removed them patiently while Grace cackled, thrilled that her prank had been a success. (Via)

That’s a little weird, sure, but to say she was “sexually abusing” her sister is hyperbolic and inaccurate, which is exactly why a website called Truth Revolt *lightning bolt* did so.

Lena Dunham describes experimenting sexually with her younger sister Grace, whom she says she attempted to persuade to kiss her using “anything a sexual predator might do.” In one particularly unsettling passage, Dunham experimented with her six-year younger sister’s vagina. (Via)

My favorite part of the post: the contextual correction.

Correction note: This article has been modified to correct a typo in the book excerpt incorrectly listing Dunham’s age as seventeen. (Via)

Other posts about Dunham on Truth Revolt *bald eagle screech* include, “Lena Dunham Goes On ‘Rage Spiral,’ ‘LOL’s About Sexual Abuse,” which to quote the Girls star herself, “LOL.”

“If you were a little kid and never looked at another little kid’s vagina, well, congrats to you.” Thanks! I did see a school friend’s penis once, though. No pebbles were involved (I hope).

Via Gawker