Lena Dunham should reel in abortion commentary
December 24, 2016
Lena Dunham has managed to stir up a lot of controversy during her time in the spotlight, but she recently hit a milestone. In fact, she accomplished the impossible: Most of social media is in agreement that the actress has crossed a line.
During an episode of her podcast “Women of the Hour” that aired Dec. 20 in which she and her guests discussed abortion, Dunham remarked that she has never had an abortion, but wishes that she had.
Both sides of the abortion debate joined forces to express their disgust for Dunham’s comment.
Hey @lenadunham. I had an abortion early this year. I promise you don’t want to experience it too. Your comments really are sickening.
— Jazmyne ♔ (@jazmyneolivia) December 20, 2016
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Finally something both liberals and conservatives can agree on.
We’re all sick of Lena Dunham.
— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) December 20, 2016
Not only does Dunham’s comment trivialize an often traumatizing experience, it shows no regard for the countless women who have lived through that reality — the women who Dunham claims to stand by.
Dunham apologized for her “distasteful joke” by blaming her “delusional girl” persona. But her delusion is everything but a persona.
If empathy is what she was trying to achieve, she is truly misguided. Empathy does not occur when you have been in someone else’s shoes, but rather when you haven’t yet can still feel and validate their pain.
Saying that you wish you’ve had an abortion just to be able to relate with women who have is a backwards, contorted disguise for empathy that does more harm than any good Dunham may have intended.
It is not out of character for Dunham to make such controversial remarks, but for the first time, she is indefensible. When she admitted to sexually assaulting her younger sister as a child, some people forgave her for being young and not knowing any better. When she publicly humiliated Odell Beckham Jr. for not acknowledging her at the Met Gala, people moved on. But she has finally proved that her very narrow worldview is inexcusable.
She also demonstrates the danger of extreme thinking. Believing in a women’s right to choose is not dangerous, but taking it so far so that you wish you have had an abortion yourself completely blurs the issue. It also dampens the reality that abortion is a painful and emotional experience, not a walk through the park.
Her comments boil abortion down to a privilege or a hobby — something you get to brag about. For someone who claims to take reproductive choice more seriously than “literally anything else,” she has trouble living up to her promises.
With the recent passing of an Ohio bill that bans abortion after 20 weeks of conception with no exception, the abortion debate will only grow in the new year.
Hopefully, Dunham’s mistake will be a lesson in the importance of empathy and sensitivity as we continue to fight Congress on women’s health.
Isabella is a sophomore in ACES.