October Favorites: Lenny Letter

My October favorite is Lena Dunham's and Jenni Konner's Lenny Letter, a weekly newsletter dedicated to feminism, health, politics, style and literature. The project debuted in late September this year and has already become a regular highlight of mine. Its contributions are a mix of political information, personal essays, advice columns, interviews and book reviews, along with quirky artwork and beautifully drawn illustrations. Dunham compares this latest brain child of hers to an "over-sharing Internet friend", which perfectly captures the essence of Lenny Letter: Everything we need to know as young, confused, regularly overwhelmed, yet dedicated, politically-minded, and empowered women in the 21st century, and then a bit. 

The first issue of Lenny Letter, featuring an interview (and a flawless selfie) with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Lenny Letter is a self-proclaimed "snark-free place for feminists to get information: on how to vote, eat, dress, fuck, and live better." An apt mission statement to describe the weekly letter installments, which cover a range of topics for the modern feminist, from politics to career planning to fashion. So far, we've been treated to an exclusive interview with Hillary Clinton, an array of 'Dinner for One' recipes, trend columns on denim and the most vital wardrobe non-basics, and a re-introduction to National Book Award finalist June Jordan, whose work (like that of many female writers and artists) is under-recognized and sadly out of print. 

As a pop culture enthusiast, I particularity enjoy the newsletter's unapologetic mix of serious matter, such as opinion pieces on reproductive rights or menstrual health, with seemingly more 'trivial' topics like fashion columns or the already infamous Lennyscope - but how trivial are they really? Even the most banal matters reveal a political spin at closer inspection, and Lenny Letter was quick to point this out in its very first issue: "Fashion is called frivolous", associate editor Laia Garcia argues in her column Tracing a Trend, "but only because it's associated with women and gay men; expensive cars are frivolous, but no one thinks less of straight men for reading Motor Trend." Preach.

Jenni Konner and Lena Dunham. Picture found here.

'Lenny' is a mash-up of Lena Dunham's and Jenni Konner's first names, which is what the crew frequently calls them by accident on set. Indeed, the two ladies have been working together for more than five years on HBO's hit show Girls, with Dunham as creator/director/actor and Konner as her production partner/showrunner/writer. According to the introduction to the first issue, the inspiration for Lenny Letter came during Dunham's book tour of Not That Kind of Girl (Random House, 2014), when she "was struck by the energy that filled the rooms where we gathered." Determined that the passionate young women (and men) she met on tour deserved an outlet for their hopes, fears, beliefs and questions, just like the one she had created for herself with her TV show, Dunham teamed up with her long-term partner-in-crime Konner to create a space where new voices are safe to speak and certain to be heard - or rather read. 

Artwork by Jordan Sondler for Rumors I Heard About My Body, a recurring Lenny Letter column about women's health.

While its topics are far from revolutionary and, most of the time, hardly politically radical (they are safely nestled within in a broadly liberal agenda), Lenny Letter does open up an important space for female (and indeed openly feminist) perspectives on the Internet, which - as we are repeatedly made aware of - is oftentimes just another place in contemporary society where such perspectives are habitually marginalized and discredited. I can't even begin to imagine all the negative criticism that Dunham and Konner must have received for launching this project, from people calling newsletters archaic and dusty to attacking the duo for openly embracing a pro-choice stance and supporting Hillary Clinton as the Democratic candidate. Any woman who has ever embarked on a similarly unusual project - I count my amazing friend Annika and her sexual & reproductive health campaign IntiMate among the lot - is probably familiar with the amount and intensity of haters such a courageous act of self-assertion attracts. On the bright side, of course, we must not fail to remember that violent reactions of various kinds support but one conclusion: The threat to male privilege posed by Lenny Letter and similar feminist endeavors is real.

Sign up here to get Lenny Letter into your inbox every Tuesday! Do make sure to check their Facebook page, where Dunham, Konner and their editors post additional material, such as book reviews ("Lit Thursday") and music recommendations ("Music Monday").