In honor of Endometriosis Awareness Month, Lena Dunham is opening up about her complicated yet beautiful relationship with her body.
The Girls star posted a black-and-white mirror selfie to Instagram on Wednesday, March 11, wearing a strappy black onesie. To accompany the photo, Dunham wrote a lengthy caption, being super transparent with her 2.9 million Instagram followers.
“I’ve never called myself “body positive” because my relationship with my curves and scars isn’t overtly political — it’s wildly personal,” the 33-year-old wrote. “And it isn’t always positive. I take enormous comfort in the body positivity movement, but I think of myself as something more like ‘body tolerant.’”
She continued, “With a chronic disease (or three), it’s impossible not to resent your body sometimes. But we are no longer in an on-and-off toxic romance. We are also not monogamous. I drift toward her and away from her, trying hard to remember that, no matter how I fight it, she is me. I am her. We only have each other, so we gotta stick together. And sometimes that means a little lace to remind her I care.”
“To other people living with #endometriosis, I’ve learned more from you than I can even explain.”
Dunham’s no stranger to discussing her decade-long battle with endometriosis and even wrote an essay for Vogue in 2018 explaining that she had a total hysterectomy in 2017 in an attempt to alleviate the intense pain. But while she was recovering from the procedure, the actress admitted that she became addicted to prescription drugs.
In November 2019, the producer also revealed that she was diagnosed with a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
After a photo surfaced of Dunham walking with a cane, she posted the photo to her Instagram feed and wrote a thorough caption explaining the disorder. “An Ehler-Danlos syndrome flare means that I need support from more than just my friends… so thank you, sweet cane!” she wrote.
Nevertheless, Dunham says she’s “stronger than ever” in the wake of her challenging health issues.
At the Friendly House Awards Luncheon last October, the star told Us, “I have to say, the past two years haven’t just been the happiest years of my adult life, they’ve been the happiest years of my life.”
She continued, “And that’s not because they’ve been perfect. It’s because I now have the tools based on what I’ve been through — whether it’s losing my health or ending a long relationship, or, you know, challenges with addiction.”
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