• Living
  • feminism

Lena Dunham and Her Sister Add to #YesAllWomen Discussion

2 minute read

Girls creator and star Lena Dunham contributed to the #YesAllWomen Twitter discussion on Sunday by sharing a story of a time she was harassed by a “very disturbed boy” at school.

In high school a very disturbed boy told me if I didn't choose to love him he would make me, followed by a series of graphic threats…

— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) May 26, 2014

… My school handled it quickly and never questioned how I'd "provoked" him and it told me that I matter. I wish that for every woman.

— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) May 26, 2014

Women began sharing their stories of misogyny using the #YesAllWoman hashtag over the weekend after it was revealed that a hatred of women may have inspired the University of California Santa Barbara murders last Friday. Elliot Rodger, who is suspected of killing six people before committing suicide, left behind YouTube videos and a manifesto describing his hate for women who reportedly rejected him. Since then, men and women have shared millions of tweets protesting sexism and gender violence.

That same day that Dunham tweeted her story for #YesAllWomen, she posted a picture of Instagram of her sister’s college graduation cap adored with the number 9. The caption on Dunham’s post read: “My sister Grace graduated from college today. I am so proud of her. She wore the number 9 on her hat to ask that Brown University honor the Title IX amendment of the constitution and do better protecting victims of sexual assault.”

 

 

More Must-Reads from TIME

Write to Eliana Dockterman at eliana.dockterman@time.com