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Lena Dunham Praises Glamour For Letting Her 'Cellulite Do The Damn Thing'

Lena Dunham Praises Glamour For Letting Her 'Cellulite Do The Damn Thing'
Glamour

Lena Dunham has never been one to shy away from controversial topics, whether she’s discussing body image, abortion, or Odell Beckham Jr.

This week, though, Dunham turned her to attention to Glamour magazine, and applauded the publication for featuring her unretouched thigh on its February cover.

The “Girls” co-creator posted a series of photos from the shoot to her Instagram account on Tuesday ― most notably, she captioned one photo with a mini-essay about her body image struggles and why this cover is so meaningful to her.

“Throughout my teens I was told, in no uncertain terms, that I was fucking funny looking,” she wrote. “Well, today this body is on the cover of a magazine that millions of women will read, without photoshop, my thigh on fully imperfect display.”

Okay, here goes: throughout my teens I was told, in no uncertain terms, that I was fucking funny looking. Potbelly, rabbit teeth, knock knees- I could never seem to get it right and it haunted my every move. I posed as the sassy confident one, secretly horrified and hurt by careless comments and hostility. Let's get something straight: I didn't hate what I looked like- I hated the culture that was telling me to hate it. When my career started, some people celebrated my look but always through the lens of "isn't she brave? Isn't it such a bold move to show THAT body on TV?" Then there were the legions of trolls who made high school teasing look like a damned joke with the violent threats they heaped on, the sickening insults that made me ache for teen girls like me who might be reading my comments. Well, today this body is on the cover of a magazine that millions of women will read, without photoshop, my thigh on full imperfect display. Whether you agree with my politics, like my show or connect to what I do, it doesn't matter- my body isn't fair game. No one's is, no matter their size, color, gender identity, and there's a place for us all in popular culture to be recognized as beautiful. Haters are gonna have to get more intellectual and creative with their disses in 2017 because none of us are going to be scared into muumuus by faceless basement dwellers, or cruel blogs, or even our partners and friends. Thank you to the women in Hollywood (and on Instagram!) leading the way, inspiring and normalizing the female form in EVERY form, and thank you to @glamourmag for letting my cellulite do the damn thing on news stands everywhere today ❤️ Love you all.

A photo posted by Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) on

Dunham wrote about the years of bullying she faced not only in her adolescence, but as a public figure as well.

“There were the legions of trolls who made high school teasing look like a damned joke with the violent threats they heaped on,” she wrote. “The sickening insults that made me ache for teen girls like me who might be reading my comments.”

Dunham thanked “women in Hollywood (and on Instagram!)” for “inspiring and normalizing the female form in EVERY form,” as well as Glamour for flaunting her unretouched thigh, and letting her “cellulite do the damn thing.”

It’s true that Dunham doesn’t always say the right thing ― but this is a message we can get on board with.

Pick up the Februrary issue of Glamour on newsstands now.

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