Lena Dunham: ‘If feminism has to become a brand to make change, I’m not complaining’

I hope your British trip’s going well, but I’m sorry to hear you were denied a buttered crumpet because they weren’t on the menu. Have you had one now?
It turns out that tweeting it made it so that I got all the crumpets I possibly needed. So now I’m feeling very lucky.

And do you like them? You know, the secret is not to stint on the butter…
They’re very delicious. There’s nothing really not to like. It’s a trumped-up English muffin, and basically a vehicle for butter.

Let’s talk about the book, Not That Kind of Girl. I’m not of your generation, but I felt it really went beyond the specifics of your situation and your age group.
I hope so… I was hoping that there would be larger truths about life being expressed in the book, but even if not, then now everybody knows my most embarrassing college stories.

When you quote some of Helen Gurley Brown’s crazy pearls of wisdom, you seem to be playing with the idea of women giving advice to other women. After all, men don’t do it, do they?
No. I don’t really read men’s magazines, but I imagine they’re not full of advice columns. But there’s something so – as you guys would say – cheeky about the idea that any of us are capable of giving advice, because we’re all so unique, and our needs and ideas are so specific. How can we dictate how another person should move through the world? But there is something about sharing our own stories that may be a more modern version of advice.

You call your mother’s work as an artist ‘the art of the vulnerable candid’. That sums up a lot of what you do, too. Tell me about going to places that seem beyond candour - a gynaecological examination, a traumatic sexual experience, for example…
For me, writing is a lot about ridding yourself of certain kinds of shame, and I think the shame comes from the kinds of things we’ve been told we have to keep secret. And so I have rejected that notion, and the writing is in many ways an expression of that. But also, I think that these experiences are really normal. There’s not one experience that exists in the book (besides possibly being naked on television) that I feel other women couldn’t connect or relate to, or see through their own lens. When I read things like “Lena Dunham’s shocking sexual confessions”, it’s actually not a shocking confession: this stuff happens to women every day. There’s actually something kind of mundane about the stories.

Indeed. You’re probably aware of the stir caused by the video of a woman walking through New York and getting over 100 catcalls…
I haven’t watched the video yet, but it sounds like it’s a very effective tool for explaining why catcalling can be so upsetting. I got in trouble once for saying I enjoyed being catcalled, which was not a popular position.

Well, you don’t exactly fight shy of unpopularity. Would it be fair to say that you occupy an uncomfortable - if highly productive - position between those who criticise your perceived privilege and conservatives offended by what you choose to share?
On the one side, the privilege conversation – that’s a dialogue I actually have to engage with, because it’s intelligent, thoughtful people, who are really examining our society and trying to change it for the better. In terms of all the conservative folk, they’re never going to agree with my politics, I’m never going to agree with their politics, so we’re at a standstill.

Are you resigned to that?
I’m wiser than to think that I can change the minds of millions of white conservative men. But I would like to always address, when I see fit, those kinds of concerns that are levelled at Girls about its role in enhancing ideas of privilege. Those are important conversations to have and I’ve tried to engage whenever appropriate.

Has Girls changed as a result of that?
I think it has. I think it’s changed and grown because of the dialogues that I’ve had, and because of the fact that I started when I was 23 and I’m going to be 29 next year, and that’s a big chunk in a person’s life. Your life can really change and shift in that period. So it’s changed for both external and internal reasons, but I’m happy if it feels like it’s growing.

You mentioned the idea of changing people’s minds about nudity. Is that something you felt was different in European culture versus US culture?
I do feel like when I’m in Europe I get way less questions about nudity. When I went to France to talk about the show, it was not even a question. I also think you guys have a very rich history of popular culture and literary culture intersecting, and that’s a really cool thing too.

You’ve also said that the nudity you do is not such a big deal for you, because you’re the boss. How important is that control over your working environment?
It’s very important to me. Obviously there’s tons of respectful working situations where you can be not the boss, and still have your body, mind and liberty respected; but for what I’m doing, specifically, I would not be comfortable performing this way for another director.

Richard E Grant, who worked with you in Girls, was photographed this week wearing a ‘This Is What a Feminist Looks Like’ T-shirt.
I know. He’s a man who truly loves women, and I mean that in the least creepy sense of the word. He’s got such a lovely relationship with his wife and his daughter and his female co-stars. He’s a person you want to have on your team. I saw the picture of Benedict Cumberbatch too. It made me want to bring one home for my boyfriend… it was pretty adorable.

Tell me about your initiative with your own Planned Parenthood T-shirts.
Planned Parenthood was my partner on my book tour in the US. Fortunately, you guys here have a more evolved relationship with women’s reproductive health, so there aren’t the same strictures. But I took Planned Parenthood with me across the US, and we gave out information to girls and encouraged them to register to vote, and talked to them about what Planned Parenthood could do for them. So those T-shirts were my official tour T-shirts; I wanted to make them available because I found them so charming.

Do you worry about feminism and women’s issues being spread by things like T-shirts and celebrity? Is it just the modern way of doing politics?
It’s definitely modern, but if feminism has to become a brand in order to fully engulf our culture and make change, I’m not complaining.

Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham is published by 4th Estate (£16.99). Click here to order it for £12.49. Season 4 of Girls will premiere in January on Sky Atlantic