Dear Rose # 42 - Lean Dunham, Endometriosis, and the Freedom of Imperfection

Rose is an amalgam of us - women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond who are looking for somewhere they are seen, heard and listened to.

Dear Rose,

I’m going through my Lena Dunham era. I’m listening to her audiobook Famesick, watching her being interviewed on YouTube, and watching her show Girls on HBO.

The journal on the left is the one I’ve written 3 months of letters to you in, the one on the right is if the next 3 months.

The thing about Lena Dunham is that she’s complicated. She is an amazing writer, and even though it was supposed to be a joke when her character Hannah said it, she really is the voice of a generation—just not ours. She’s a millennial, and I find her directness almost baffling—it's a kind of freedom our generation wasn't really built for.

She’s far, far, far from perfect. She’s not thin, she says dumb stuff, and some say her voice is annoying (I happen to love it). She’s often hated just for being a public woman who isn't "perfect."

But the reason I’m most drawn to Lena is her very public battle with endometriosis. She was one of the first famous people I saw talk about the experience; she’s probably the person who has described pain in the most relatable way. Through her own imperfect acceptance of her imperfections, she allows me to be imperfectly accepting of mine.

Love, Em xx