Lena Dunham Slammed by ADL for ‘Tasteless’ New Yorker Piece
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
The Anti-Defamation League has called Lena Dunham’s recent controversial piece in the New Yorker “tasteless” and “offensive.”
“Dog or Jewish Boyfriend? A Quiz,” a piece by the 28-year-old actress and writer of the popular HBO show “Girls,” is a list of 35 statements that begins by asking the reader “Do the following statements refer to (a) my dog or (b) my Jewish boyfriend?”
The ADL objected to several of Dunham’s statements, including ones that imply that her boyfriend “doesn’t tip,” “never brings his wallet anywhere” and “comes from a culture in which mothers focus every ounce of their attention on their offspring and don’t acknowledge their own need for independence as women.”
“Some will certainly find Lena Dunham’s stereotypes about cheap Jews offensive. Others will take issue with the very idea of comparing a dog and a Jewish boyfriend,” ADL National Director Abraham Foxman said in a statement issued Friday.
“The piece is particularly troubling because it evokes memories of the ‘No Jews or Dogs Allowed’ signs from our own early history in this country, and also because, in a much more sinister way, many in the Muslim world today hatefully refer to Jews as ‘dogs,’” Foxman’s statement continued.
Since 2012, Dunham’s boyfriend in real life has been Jack Antonoff, the guitarist for the band Fun.,who attended Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County, N.J. Dunham has a Jewish mother and Protestant father.
The ADL statement acknowledged that the piece was intended to be humorous:
We doubt that Ms. Dunham had any intention of evoking such comparisons. While we understand that humor is its own special brand of expression and always try to give leeway to comedians, we wish that she had chosen another, less insensitive way to publicly reflect on her boyfriend’s virtues and vices.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
