Lena Dunham Explains Why She's Excited to Turn 30
The "Girls" creator will wrap up her 20s and her HBO series next year.
— -- Lena Dunham may have made an entire series out of exploring her girlhood but she's ready to move to the next phase of her life, which includes turning 30 next year.
"I’m so excited about turning 30," she told the November issue of Harper's Bazaar, which features her on the cover. "I’m psyched about it because I think that being in your 20’s -- especially as a woman -- there’s an inherent tension. Ageism exists in all direction, but it isn’t the sweet spot for being taken seriously in the workplace. I’ve been really lucky. I got to do a lot of things before I was 30 that most people don’t."
That includes her successful HBO series, "Girls," which she will wrap up next year, a best-selling memoir, "Not That Kind of Girl," frequent essays in The New Yorker, and now a feminist e-letter Lenny, which has already made headlines with an essay by pal Jennifer Lawrence.
"I think women, when they're given an opportunity, are so afraid it's going to disappear," she said about her prodigious output. "That was my 20s. I was like 'This may never strike again. I'm a kind of weird-looking girl, with a very specific voice, and the fact that I get to have a job is insane.'"
Dunham said she takes her mission "to spread positivity" seriously.
"I know I’m not most moms’ idea of a role model, but I try to use the attention that comes with that wisely and not foolishly," she said. "Yes, I will tweet about my issues with underpants, but I also want to say things that matter."
She also discussed her mixed feelings about the Internet.
“I’ve been put to bed for weeks from reading things about myself on sites that used to be considered feminist gospel," she said. "I love the Internet because it helped me discover everything that matters to me. But I also hate the Internet because every piece of true pain I’ve experienced as an adult – with the exception of death in the family and breakups – has come from it.”
