Lena Dunham Responds to Trolls. Again. But Why?
Lena Dunham posted this image with the caption, “Had the pleasure of visiting campaign headquarters in my very own Brooklyn! Didn’t find the grande dame herself but this bumper sticker is pretty dope… Getting excited “ Photo: @lenadunham/Instagram
Earlier today Lena Dunham posted a selfie on her Instagram, holding an “I’m with Hillary” bumper sticker between her teeth. As with anything and everything Dunham does, the trolls came out in full force. Surprisingly, a number of commenters were shocked that she would support Hillary Clinton (really?), but we’re even more surprised Dunham’s most vocal followers are fervent supporters of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, and urged the actress to “look into him, please.”
Less friendly fans expressed their disgust and outrage over the Girls creator’s choice of candidate, using fowl language, insults, and the always classic “you’re only supporting her because she’s a woman” line. After about 1,048 comments where her followers (/hate-followers) expressed their disappointment, and announced they would be unfollowing her, she posted a picture of Lil’ Kim, with a lengthy rant about how accusing her of supporting Hillary “just because she’s a woman,” is “misogynistic bs.”
“Hey, just a head’s up: accusing women of supporting Hillary just because she’s female is misogynistic BS- women are smart enough to make decisions based on a number of factors: policy, track record, campaign strategy. Yes I think it’s time for a female president but I’m not part of a witch’s cabal that senses ovaries and suddenly MUST VOTE. Plus if I was gonna vote for someone just because she was female it would be this chick, written in on all my ballots always. So go ahead, argue your political POV but don’t insult a woman’s intelligence by acting as though she votes exclusively along vaginal party lines. As Kim would say “I’m valedictorian y'all in the audience/And I’ve got nine hundred and ninety-nine votes, You got nine hundred and ninety-nine notes/You know bitch I’m worldwide.” New Hillary campaign slogan? TGIF!” read the caption on Lena Dunham’s latest Instagram post. Photo: @lenadunham/Instagram
Dunham went on to argue that if she was voting for someone just because they were a woman, she would be voting for Lil’ Kim, which, as much as we love Lil’ Kim, would of course be a horrible idea. Dunham’s right and her points are valid, but why does she keep engaging with all these trolls? She recently announced that she had stopped looking at Twitter because the trolls were getting to be too much, so shouldn’t she take the same approach to Instagram? I understand her wanting to live her life freely, whichever way she pleases, but it seems like responses like this only stoke the fire. People will be more likely to leave totally inappropriate and insulting comments because they know she will read them and respond to them. All celebrities—female ones in particular—face a particular kind of wrath on the internet regardless of what they are talking about and whether or not they address the negativity, but there are ways that she can avoid the negative energy. She could take a cue from Miley and engage with her funny fans, the ones that make memes and celebrate her weirdness, or she could take a cue from Beyoncé and engage with no one at all, although that would really not be as fun. Lena, we love you, let those bad vibez wash off your body! You don’t need that in your life.
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