Lena Dunham hasn’t just been accused of being a pedophile — now people say she’s anti-Semitic, too.
The Internet is once again in a tizzy over the “Girls” creator, this time attacking Dunham for her recent New Yorker magazine piece, “Dog or Jewish Boyfriend? A Quiz” for its alleged “anti-Semitic” implications.
“He has a sensitive stomach and has to take two Dramamine before entering any moving vehicle,” Dunham says, asking readers to decide if she’s talking about her dog, Lamby, or her Jewish boyfriend, fun.’s lead guitarist Jack Antonoff.
“He has hair all over his body, like most males who share his background,” she comically offers later in the piece.
But while many readers can find humor in the light-hearted piece, others are wringing their hands and saying Dunham’s quiz lacks political correctness.
“There are many people who seem to believe that if you are from New York and consider yourself ‘culturally Jewish,’ then you can say whatever you want about Jewish people, no matter how derogatory, with impunity. Because you’re like, basically Jewish, dude!” writes Jordana Horn of Kveller, a Jewish parenting blog.
Horn seems to have forgotten that Dunham herself is half-Jewish — her mother, artist Laurie Simmons, is Jewish, and Dunham had a bat mitzvah growing up.
Most people seem to be oblivious to the fact that the most egregious offenses — “He doesn’t tip, and he never brings his wallet anywhere; He’s crazy for cream cheese; Every week it’s some new health issue: urine crystals, sprained foot, beef allergy” — are clearly in reference to her mutt (who has also been rife with controversy over his vicious behavior).
But not everyone is pulling out their pitchforks. “I’m as Jewish as they come and thought it was hilarious. As did most of my friends,” tweeted pro-Israeli activist Daniel Wein.
“Why is everyone making such a big tzimis over @lenadunham essay in @NewYorker? I’m ¹/₂ Jewish + think it’s hilarious,” added Business Insider Deputy Editor Marcus Baram.
A rep for Dunham declined to comment, but editor David Remnick said in a statement, “The Jewish-comic tradition is rich with the mockery of, and playing with, stereotypes. Anyone who has ever heard Lenny Bruce or Larry David or Sarah Silverman or who has read ‘Portnoy’s Complaint’ knows that. Lena Dunham, who is Jewish and hugely talented, is a comic voice working in that vein. Richard Pryor and Chris Rock do the same about black stereotypes; Amy Schumer does it with women and gender. I don’t mind if one reader or another didn’t find the piece funny. People can differ on that. But considering all the real hatred and tragedy in the world, the people getting exercised about the so-called anti-Semitism of this comic piece, like those who railed at Philip Roth a generation or two ago, are, with respect, howling in the wrong direction.”