When Lena Dunham does, says or writes something awful, many people are justifiably frustrated because Lena actually IS a smart person. She’s an educated, intelligent woman capable of critical thinking and growth. Somehow that makes it worse though – the fact that she is a smart woman makes it sting even more when she still consistently f—ks up so profoundly. I was reminded of this when I was reading through some of the interview Lena gave to The Breakfast Club (radio show) on Wednesday. She was hit with a lot of questions about all of the controversies she’s been a part of. And to her credit – ??? – she answered all of the questions head-on. She was even sort of thoughtful at times. Some highlights:

How ‘Girls’ was super-white: “I think everyone’s criticisms of Girls were totally valid…[At 23, I wanted to] write from a place of accuracy and passion and understanding,” and thus likely would not have been equipped to tell the stories of young black women with the same degree of understanding or empathy.

Telling stories with women of color: “It’s not one size fits all, and there are issues that women of color deal with that white women have no idea. White feminists do not have a great history of carrying their black sisters along with them.”

Her hopes with her Lenny letters: “[To] support female voices of color the way that our voices have been supported” and to allow these women to write their own stories “instead of trying to co-opt their stories so I have a cast that looks great on a poster.”

Long-term goals: She acknowledges that “looking back, I never want to see another poster that’s four white girls.”

On Kim Kardashian & how the media treated her: “What I really hate about this Kim thing is that people are feeling so much license to make jokes, and it’s like, that’s a human being. She may have put her life on display in this specific way, and you may not agree with everything she does, but that is a woman and a mother and a daughter who just went through something so heinous. So my heart is with Kim.”

The comments she made about Odell Beckham Jr.: “I was in my own head. It was a great lesson to me in how your humor can be misconstrued…In the written word, it did not translate. I was at the Met Ball and feeling super self-conscious… I was sitting there and had this whole projected thought process of like, ‘Odell doesn’t want to be sitting next to me. He doesn’t want to talk to me. He thinks I’m garbage. He thinks I look like a boy.’ I thought all of that was coming across, and it seemed like I was actually accusing him of some type of misogyny. I was unintentionally perpetuating the stereotype of a black man as someone who will holler at anything that’s near him. Especially, at this moment in history, we have to be hyper-vigilant about the way that we depict each other because of how much darkness and tension exists…I will be much more careful in the future about making sure my humor translate and it’s not creating destructive images.”

[From NY Mag & E! News]

Are we going to nit-pick? This stood out: “White feminists do not have a great history of carrying their black sisters along with them.” That came across as both incredibly true and incredibly patronizing. Historically, white feminists have not “carried” their “black sisters” with them, that’s true. But do we still have to put it in those terms in 2016? Black women don’t expect Lena Dunham to carry them anywhere. Black women just want to point out that Lena has more access and privilege than most women of color, and they want Lena to acknowledge that fact too. But no one expects to be “carried” – it’s a matter of having a seat at the table. Still, I guess good on Lena for at least trying to create spaces where women of color have more of a voice? Eh.

Photos courtesy of WENN.