The vast majority of people who express objection to Dunham’s nude scenes seem to realize that they are being ridiculous, and this is good and important to point out, I think. The more they try to rationalize their adverse reaction to seeing her skin, the more they start to trail off, as if they’re aware that there’s no rationality to it, that there’s hardly a defense to be made for their shallow assessment of the show and its depiction of Hannah’s body.
That’s really only one step away from starting to ask poorly phrased and somewhat ignorant yet still curious and earnest questions like the dude from The Wrap asked, which got this topic trending all over again. The progress should be commended, and I’m a little bummed that the guy got reamed out the way he did, even if he acted like an insensitive twat. It should be an indictment of the low bar we have to set for us men to understand women, but he ought to be awarded some points for trying.
The stupid questions need to be asked, and more importantly, the answers need to be closely listened to and carefully considered. I doubt Lena Dunham knows entirely why she feels so compelled to give all of herself to her projects—she has her interview answers and those are illuminating certainly, but there seems to be more to this impulse that she follows, as all talented artists do. And the discussion around that impulse is useful. Like the show itself, the conversation around Girls and Dunham’s nudity may be awkward and uncomfortable, but overall, it is a great thing.