Actress Lena Dunham Fires Back At Critics Who Say She Molested Younger Sister
BEVERLY HILLS (CBSLA.com) — Actress Lena Dunham took to social media Monday to answer critics of her new book who say she molested her younger sister.
The original controversy arose from details Dunham wrote in her book, "Not That Kind Of Girl," in which she discusses sexually experimenting, at the age of 7, with her sister, who is six years younger.
"I took to bribing her for her time and affection. ... Three pieces of candy if I could kiss her on the lips for five seconds. ... Basically, anything a sexual predator might do to woo a small suburban girl," Dunham wrote.
Critics, who include conservative websites such as Truth Revolt, characterized the excerpt, along with others, as "sexually abusing her little sister."
Dunham in response threatened legal action if the site did not remove the article and took to Twitter to voice her feelings over the criticism.
"The right-wing news story that I molested my little sister isn't just LOL- it's really (expletive) upsetting and disgusting," Dunham tweeted.
Fran Walfish, a child psychologist, says that curiosity such as that discussed in Dunham's book is normal in young children but understands why there is so much controversy.
"It's helpful to normalize it, but still create reasonable boundaries for children," Walfish said.
Lena's sister, Grace, who is openly gay, also came to her sister's defense.
"As a queer person, I'm committed to people narrating their own experiences, determining for themselves what has and has not been harmful," Grace tweeted.
Walfish, meanwhile, says that while curiosity is normal, parents must pay attention.
"All it requires is a closer eye and closer ear for good supervision," Walfish said.