Blah, Blah, Blahg

Eng 4375 - Special Topics in Lit Self-Reflection, Personal Reformation, and New Literacies in the 21st Century; Spring 2015

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Lena Dunham

You can tell that Lena Dunham really seems to care about her sister in Grace. As an older sibling, I understand the mindset of wanting to protect the younger sibling, but I think Dunham takes it too far. She becomes a little possessive and needy, and it makes the reader uncomfortable. I also think it’s kind of terrible that she outed her sister to her mom. If a sibling confides something to you, especially something so sensitive, it is your job to keep it a secret.

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Done(ham) with This Book

Having finished our reading of Lena Dunham, I feel like I share an opinion similar to that of the head of Oberlin’s writing department: There are some interesting moments in Dunham’s writing, but the stories don’t have much substance. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, mind you, since I regularly find causal enjoyment in media that has little other value than entertainment, but like I’ve mentioned before, it seems like she may think a bit highly of herself. For some reason one of the most amusing parts about the book was that after the “About the Author” section was a section about the history of the typeface used, as if the two were grouped together in terms of importance.

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Siblings

I wonder how my brother felt about me when I was born. He had recently turned 4 (I’m a two week late birthday present for him) and I've never really asked this question. Knowing him, he probably doesn't remember, but my parents might remember so I plan to ask them how my brother reacted. I do remember seeing a picture at one point of my dad and brother trying to peek through the curtain where my mom was about to give birth to me (or maybe already had, or was giving birth to me at the time). All I know is for sure is that when we were kids, I was his groupie and he was the rock star. I followed him around like a lost puppy, excited and surprised by everything he did and he loved to show off to me.

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What is taste?

Sexual predators attempting to woo little girls is not, and never should be, a punchline. Maybe I’m just too sensitive about the topic because of my own past but the line “Basically, anything a sexual predator might do to woo a small suburban girl I was trying.” (150) is not remotely amusing to me. There are much better ways to have phrased the feeling of wanting a sibling to like you than to put actual victims as a punchline. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to be finished with a book, and I had to read Wuthering Heights.

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Bye, Lena.

I highly appreciate how Lena Dunham writes honestly without any restraints. However, that does not necessarily mean that it satisfies my certain expectation as a reader. It is because Dunham’s value does not align with my sense of values. There are certain boundary lines that I prefer not to cross over as a reader in manner of experiencing the rawness that author presents. I was happy when Dunham found her truest love, Johnny McDuff, but some of her descriptions had too much of details that readers do not necessarily have to know. I mean, everyone has their own emotions and experiences, and it is their freedom to express it through writing, but that also means that readers as well have choice to either read it or not. Since we are done reading her, bye, Lena. :)

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Love for Lena

Lena Dunham continues to engage and entertain me. She takes pivotal moments from a person's life and turns them into humor. Her reaction to her sister's sexuality made me feel great respect for Lena. She handled the situation very well and with understanding. Lena's love for her sister Grace shows how kind hearted she is. Her experiences at school are great. I feel that many readers can relate to this part of the book. Her honesty about life makes the text seem more authentic. The subtlety and humor about her camp experiences were hilarious. I really enjoyed the tips for running away. I learned something from this part. Lena writes, "You've learned a new rule and it's simple: don't put yourself in situations you'd like to run away from." That line really stood out to me. One can apply that to anything in life.

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Priveleged, Yet Whiny

Williamson’s article offered some much needed context to Dunham’s plaintive narratives. To be fair, Dunham is still hilarious in her complaints, but when viewed with this kind of background it loses a bit of charm and takes on a more grating quality. This seems more like the voice of our generation - or at least a large portion of the upper middle class and beyond.... 

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Privilege

I like the Williamson article. I feel like he added a lot more context to Dunham’s memoir than she did herself. Privilege is not something that we can ignore and it is something that needs to be addressed in memoirs. The way that we are raised and in what class we were raised has a lot to do with the formation of ourselves and to deny our background or refuse to acknowledge our privilege is detrimental to open discussions.

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Important Stories

Gay stated that Dunham’s memoir will give rise to other important people willing to tell their stories but all I hear is silence. Maybe I’m not looking hard enough. Maybe I’m not searching in the right places. Maybe I haven’t dug deep enough to find a recent memoir of someone important who isn’t white/cisgendered/heterosexual. I know I’m not the only one who thinks that the stories of those who aren’t white/cisgendered/heterosexual are important. I know I’m not the only one bored with yet another story, no matter how inspiring, being told from someone who is in a place of privilege. Then again, maybe I’m just a cynical person who’s done with society at this point.

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The Voice of a Very Particular Part of a Generation

There are a few things I disagree with in Williamson’s article; for one thing, I think it may be going a bit far to say that Lena Dunham relating her experiences in a relatively affluent upbringing is the same as not seeing them as unusual. The most notable difference between his experience with her work and my own probably stems from my reading it as an entertaining chronicling of life experiences that others may relate to in one way of another instead of as a voice of a generation or model for others. Still, I would have to agree that it falls short of fulfilling the latter purpose, and that Lena Dunham’s sense of self-worth may be somewhat over-inflated.

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A voice of A generation

This article got my attention the most. The first one from Gay was interesting and I liked it and agreed with it but this one just ripped a hole through my understanding and planted something different. Dunham’s writing is unique, it’s amazing, and it really pulls you in, but Kevin Williamson knew there was more to her. I think he has a point about Dunham in one way or form. She may have a voice and people may relate to her but I don’t know that she can be a voice to a generation. Not a whole generation at least. It’s funny to read and many can relate but there really isn’t a movement behind anything that she says in her book. Maybe it’s the fact that she’s a woman expressing her story? I can see that in a way how that can be seen as a voice for a generation or even our generation but the book itself and the content I don’t think really matches what our generation needs to be voiced out. When I think of a voice of a generation. I think of someone who can speak for all, and I don’t think Dunham does that.

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Voice of a Generation?

I do not think I can agree with Gay that Lena Dunham could be a voice of her (our?) generation. This has less to do with Gay’s assertion that young women have no voice in our culture and more to do with the fact that I think any person proclaiming to be a voice of a generation should be viewed a bit skeptically, especially a person I had not even heard of before being asked to read her memoir.

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A Woman

Roxanne Gay’s article about Lena Dunham’s voice as a woman who tells her story. The last paragraph of the article really was what I focused on the most. The world has always believed that women are afraid to speak their mind, and for some that may be true (it has been true for me). Dunham is a woman who isn’t afraid to speak her mind (though some may say differently about that), and I believe that. However, everyone has a right to tell their story, everyone deserves that right. Not just Dunham.

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Stories

“Dunham is not only a voice who deserves to beheard but also one who will inspire other important voices to tell their stories too.”

Agree. Even though I personally did not prefer to read Dunham’s work at first, if I view this work with a positive aspect, I admit that her style of writing and her confidence of being honest may empower those who also have their own sensitive stories. It may give confidence to free themselves from traumas coming from undesirable experiences by revealing it through writing.  

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Representing her generation

Can Lena Dunham represent her generation, as she desires to be? Kevin D. Williamson asserts that, “If she is emblematic of her generation, it is in that her life, in her own telling, is a reminder that being ruined by comfort and privilege is as easy as (perhaps easier than) being crippled by privation and abuse.” I think she represents her generation of those who have similar experiences whether or not those people share Dunham’s privileged background. Even though she describes herself as an unreliable narrator by fabricating some parts of the stories, it still has power to earn agreement from those who have similar secretive stories. Therefore, yes, Dunham can represent this generation in despite of her privileged background.

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The New Voice

I believe that Lena Dunham is a voice of a generation. She touches on controversial topics with dry humor. Specifically, when she discusses her sexual assault. I never realized how Dunham's experience translated into something much bigger. The article showed me that her sexual assault was not only her speaking her voice, but a girl who was learning to deal with rape culture. This generation is learning how to deal with rape culture and Dunham's story helps by letting women know they are not the only one. Gay writes, "We are forever in search of someone who will speak not only to us but for us." I think that Lena Dunham is doing just that.

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Kevin D. Williamson

Kevin D. Williamson claims that Lena Dunham lacks any actual backing for her ‘controversial’ attitude, which is an interesting claim. He argues that it is a little odd that some of her hardships are not hardships at all, and that she is likely more out of touch with her own generation than she would like to think. Williamson asserts that Dunham’s attitude stems from her parents’ attitude, whom he describes as “self-styled radicals from old money,” which I think is hilarious.