Lena Dunham: investigations of my rape in college are misogynistic
Dunham says that the name used for her alleged attacker, "Barry," was a pseudonym and any resemblance to a real person was an unfortunate coincidence.
Breitbart found discrepancies with Dunham's description of her attacker.
Lena Dunham, star of HBO’s Girls, has denounced investigations of her alleged rape by a college Republican, calling them “misogynistic.”
As previously reported by Campus Reform, Dunham’s account of her rape during her time at Oberlin is facing scrutiny. Dunham claims her assailant, named “Barry” in her memoir, Not That Kind of Girl, was a pseudonym, after Breitbart was unable to find anyone who matched Dunham’s description at Oberlin College.
However, one former Oberlin Republican was named Barry, though no other details Dunham gives about her rapist match up. Barry was reportedly easy to find, and has released a statement asking Dunham why it took her so long to clear his name.
“I have had my character and credibility questioned at every turn,” writes Dunham in her editorial at Buzzfeed. “I have been attacked online with violent and misogynistic language. Reporters have attempted to uncover the identity of my attacker despite my sincerest attempts to protect this information. My work has been torn apart in an attempt to prove I am a liar, or worse, a deviant myself.”
Dunham claims investigations of her alleged rape perpetuate a “flawed narrative” of how the country views and treats rape victims.
“These ignorant lines of inquiry serve to further flawed narratives about rape, but these people are reacting to the same set of social signals that we all are—signals telling us that preventing assault is a woman’s job, that rape is only rape when a stranger drags you into a dark alley with a knife at your throat, that our stories are never true, and that lying about rape is a way for women to enact revenge on innocent men,” she wrote.
Speaking as a woman of “extraordinary privilege,” Dunham says she doesn’t want to birth children into a world where sexual assault claims are met with “skepticism” and “condemnation.”
This is not the first time Dunham’s memoir has been the subject of controversy. When Truth Revoltnoted that several acts Dunham relays in the book were tantamount to sexual abuse of her little sister, Dunham threatened to sue the publication.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @MaggieLitCRO
