When one thinks of children, sex never comes to mind—hopefully. Children’s curiosity about sex is an uncomfortable topic for anyone to talk about, but we have to accept it. Children may be new to this whole life thing, and they are curious beings. If they are curious about why the sky is blue, then it would be ignorant for us to think that they are not curious about their own bodies.
That being said, it is disgusting and horrifying that news outlets are accusing Lena Dunham, star of Girls and author of Not that Kind of Girl, of molesting her little sister.
Dunham is known for being very open, and for some people, that leaves a bad taste in their mouths. But people who bare their souls are the trailblazers.
Truth Revolt took Dunham way out of context to make her sound like a monster.
First off, Truth Revolt headline, “Lena Dunham Describes Sexually Abusing Her Little Sister,” wildly exaggerates and completely falsifies Dunham’s narrative.
Dunham describes a scene in her book in which she was seven and her sister was one. They were sitting in the car, and she asked her mom if her sister had a vagina also. Her mom, of course, said yes but her sister’s is smaller. Her mom went inside to get something, leaving seven-year-old Dunham to open her sister’s vagina for a look; her mom did not even think twice about this instance. You know why? Because it was harmless. She was curious. She was a child; children do weird things.
Another instance described in the book that is being questioned is when Dunham said that she would masturbate in the same bed as her sister. Yes, that is very strange, but when you step back and think about the circumstances, it isn’t that obscure. Lena and her sister Grace shared a bed up until Lena was 17 years old, because her sister was afraid to sleep alone, so it was not like she purposefully slept in the same bed with her just so she could pleasure herself next to her sister. Most people would be uncomfortable with the thought of doing what Dunham did, myself included, but everybody is different. Some are more open and free with their sexuality than others. I highly doubt she meant any harm or had any unorthodox sexual motivations.
In another instance, the Truth Revolt takes Dunham’s words way out of context when they report the quote “Basically, anything a sexual predator might do to woo a small suburban girl I was trying,” standing alone. That quote sounds bad when it isn’t in context, but if you read on, she wanted affection from her sister and she wanted her sister to need her and pay attention to her. Lena Dunham is a comedian; readers cannot take everything she says literally because it is just not meant to be literal.
This whole matter is also demeaning to people who have seriously been sexually abused. If a child’s curiosity is considered sexual abuse, it is taking away from the people who have been sexually abused and have psychological issues because of it.
Even though this is horrifying and probably embarrassing for her, she is handling it with the Lena Dunham charm, straightforward with a humorous twist.
Lena tweeted a series of tweets meant to dispel the rumors. Her message could best be encompassed by, “I told a story about being a weird 7 year old. I bet you have some too, old men, that I’d rather not hear. And yes, this is a rage spiral.”
Grace, too, took to Twitter, saying, “As a queer person: i’m (sic) committed to people narrating their own experiences, determining for themselves what has and has not been harmful.”
The leaders of Truth Revolt are right-winged, so naturally they are going to be more critical of an out-spoken liberal. But no matter how different two people see the world, it is never okay to accuse somebody of something so serious and personal without taking a step back and analyzing the facts. And anyway, why would she write it in the book if it weren’t an innocent event that happened in her life? Who would out themselves as a sexual offender?
