Lena Dunham’s Latest Bikini Selfie Has A Powerful Message

Lena Dunham takes a stand for women suffering from endometriosis in her latest bikini selfie.

Lena Dunham hasn’t had the most smooth September. Remember the controversy earlier this month when during an interview with Amy Schumer in her newsletter Lenny she said some problematic stuff about footballer Odell Beckham Jr.? In case you missed that internet firefight: the two actress slash writers slash cultural forces were talking about the Met Gala back in May and Lena mentioned she was sitting next to Odell and “he looked at me and he determined I was not the shape of a woman by his standards. He was like, ‘That’s a marshmallow. That’s a child. That’s a dog.’ It wasn’t mean – he just seemed confused. The vibe was very much like, ‘Do I want to fuck it? Is it wearing a … yep, it’s wearing a tuxedo. I’m going to go back to my cell phone.’ It was like we were forced to be together, and he literally was scrolling Instagram rather than have to look at a woman in a bow tie. I was like, ‘This should be called the Metropolitan Museum of Getting Rejected by Athletes.’”

She eventually apologised for making up thoughts for the New York Giants footballer. She blamed her insecurities and ‘narcissistic assumptions’. It was all very awkward.

However, while that’s all brewing in the back of everyone’s uncomfortable minds, there is one thing you can praise Lena for: her endometriosis activism. The 30-year-old has written about her struggles with the condition before and took time off earlier this year when it all got a bit much. Endometriosis is a chronic condition affecting about 1 in 10 women. It occurs when the cells that usually line your uterus grow outside it. While the uterus lining is usually shed and results in a period, with endometriosis the outside-uterus cells get thicker but go nowhere. The result is intense pain, inflammation and fatigue, as well as host of other issues.

By talking about her illness, Lena flies a flag for MILLIONS of women around the world. Her latest shout-out took the form of a bikini selfie on Instagram Stories. In the photo you can see scars on Lena’s stomach, the results of surgery related to endometriosis. Then there’s the empowering hashtag: “When the Target swimsuit does a bitch right, Endo scars & all.”

Thank you Lena, for talking about a subject that affects so many women.