Why "Girls" Star Lena Dunham Calling Out Report Her Makes Her A Role Model For Us All (And Why The Question Was Offensive)

Dunham (Via www.salon.com)

  When a reporter asked Lena Dunham why she was naked so much on "Girls", she, Judd Apatow, and Jenni Kroner went into action into standing up for the rights of humans everywhere to engage in a healthy and happy relationship with their bodies. While the reporter took to "The Wrap" to complain that he didn't find the comment offensive, I feel like he still doesn't get the point. So here, on my little blog that he will probably never read, I feel like giving a full explanation as to why his comments were offensive. Here it goes.
    First and foremost, Lena Dunham has an average body type that is rarely seen in today's media. Instead, the media continues to perpetuate the image that girls are either extremely thin or have large chests, thin wastes, and perfect everything. Therefore, when Lena Dunham gets naked and shows off her beautiful, normal body the media freaks out due to their blatant sizeism. If she was a skinny girl with huge breasts very few people would say anything, but because she has an average body the media is freaking out. It's just inappropriate, and yes, it is offensive.
     Secondly, the second reason the question if offensive is because it sexist and perpetuates "slut shaming". Anyone who watches "Girls" knows that the show is about girls in their twenties who navigate love, sex, relationships, and everything else that goes along with being a young woman in America.  Part of being a young sexually active person is being naked at one time or another, and Dunham's character (to me at least) does not overdue it. She's either naked when sleeping, having sex, or showering. It's not like she's walking down the street or having coffee at Starbucks stark naked. She's freaking having sex or in a situation with some of her closet friends!            

Dunham And Apatow (From www.fastcompany.com)

       The reason people are asking whether she is naked so mush of the time, to me, is simply because they are uncomfortable seeing a sexually active young WOMAN. If it was a man, the question would never be brought to the forefront because men having sex as much as Dunham's character is perfectly acceptable in our society, but when a woman has that much sex it's frowned upon. The fact that her character is a strong, sexual woman who is unashamed of her body makes people uncomfortable, and that's why they continuously ask why her character Hannah is naked so often. It's a classic case of sexist "slut shaming", and that is another reason that it's offensive.
       Now that I've explained why the question was offensive, I just want to say that Dunham, Apatow, and Kroner handled it in the best way possible, and I applaud them for what they did. They simply stated that the question was offensive and gave their reasoning behind calling out the reporter, but they were not rude or abrasive in handling the reporter's question or comments. This is what we need more of in our society, people who are willing to stand up against discrimination in an eloquent way. Whether it be sexism, like was the case in this particular situation, or racism, homophobia, or any other discriminatory speech out their, people speaking up against such speech is the only way to prevent it from spreading, and it is our only hope for a more accepting and inclusive future for all.

P.S. Girls Airs On January 12th at 10 p.m. on HBO