Lena Dunham is starting a newsletter targeted at millennials, titled Lenny, that will cover everything from feminism to style to politics to health. The tagline is “An email newsletter where there’s no such thing as too much information.” According to The Cut, Lenny’s mission statement reads: “Lenny is your over sharing Internet friend who will yell at you about your finances, help you choose a bathing suit, lamp, president … AND tell you what to do if you need an abortion.”
This shouldn’t rile up the Internet at all.
Dunham, someone that people online have very strong opinions about, seems to be speaking directly to her haters with that “too much information” line, especially as she’s often accused of over-sharing in her HBO comedy series and recent best-selling book. But Dunham, who is launching the newsletter in September with fellow “Girls” executive producer Jenni Konner, just doesn’t care what you think.
“With Lenny there’s no such thing as TMI, there’s no such thing as self-involved,” Dunham, 29, told Buzzfeed. “We’ll be allowed to show the ugly and complicated thought processes that go into forming your own brand of feminism, and your own identity, because it’s not all clean back here.”
The natural inclination is to compare Dunham’s project to lifestyle Web sites such as the much-mocked Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow’s earnest and generally unrealistic advice for a better life, and Preserve, Blake Lively’s site that follows in much the same vein (albeit with cheaper products). Dunham explained to The Cut that although Lenny will be aimed at a different bracket than Paltrow’s audience, she hopes the newsletter isn’t considered the “anti-Goop.” In fact, she and Konner are huge fans of Paltrow, who was extremely supportive of their project.
Jessica Grose, a former Slate and Jezebel editor who will helm Dunham’s newsletter, told Buzzfeed that Lenny is a sort of “Goop meets Grantland,” name-checking Bill Simmons’s brainchild site that covers a mix of sports and culture.
Either way, Lenny will be guaranteed to be in Dunham’s very distinctive style, which has already served her quite well in the entertainment industry. Though there will be a mix of outside contributors, expect it to be very much Dunham-influenced, no matter what the topic.
“We will strive to bring it all to your inbox and to highlight unique voices,” Dunham wrote on Instagram.
Here’s the email you receive when you sign up for Lenny:
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