I think it's time we start getting more creative with our lady humor.
During Sunday night's MTV Movie Awards, host Rebel Wilson (whom I sincerely adore) made a joke about Lena Dunham's vagina. When she was discussing who would be nominated for "Sexiest Beard," Wilson said: "Nominees for that include Ben Affleck for Argo, Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln, and Lena Dunham's vagina -- What? It's been on a lot of faces."
I had two initial thoughts:
A) Of all the body parts of Dunham's we've been privy to on "Girls," her vagina is in fact not one of them.
B) That joke just wasn't all that funny.
"I think I've become immune to vagina jokes," wrote XOJane's Mandy Stadtmiller. "They don't make me laugh anymore." And while I don't object to jokes that use words like dick and vagina on any sort of moral grounds, I agree with Stadtmiller that often they seem to fall flat. This particular joke was no exception.
There are many clever ways to poke fun at Lena Dunham, who as a public figure and avid tweeter opens herself up to jabs and criticism and all-in-good-fun comments. But a joke about her vagina was simply off-putting, especially when Dunham's nudity has done a lot of good for women. By putting her body out there for the world to discuss, deride and view, Dunham has sparked important conversations about body image, weight stigma and the complexity of desire.
We really have no idea where Dunham's vagina has been, or her character Hannah Horvath's for that matter
-- we don't see it on screen. Regardless, let's try to be a bit more clever with our jokes about famous women in the future. I'd love to laugh next time.
