September 30, 2015

"In a bid to seem less stuffy... Hillary Clinton is chatting with Lena Dunham about the singer Lenny Kravitz’s penis."

Writes Frank Bruni — warring on women? — in his column in The New York Times.
The interview itself covers Clinton’s biography and some serious terrain, including feminism and the relationship between African-Americans and the police.
So why are you disrespecting these women, Frank?
But it’s in large part a Dunham-Clinton love-in, a pajama party minus the pajamas, ostensibly in keeping with the Clinton campaign’s recent pledge to roll out a warmer, funnier version of the candidate.
When women have a friendly discussion with each other, you for some reason feel compelled to picture them in pajamas — to call it a pajama party? I'm having a flashback to the 1970s (and even the 1980), when men seeing women talking to each other just had to call it a "kaffeeklatsch." You could be in a professional occupation, and a man might walk into the room, see 2 or 3 women talking to each other and say: "Oh? Is this the kaffeeklatsch?"
In the promotional video, Clinton kids that because Dunham’s newsletter and the website associated with it are called Lenny, she half expected that the person coming to question her might be Kravitz.

Dunham then mentions some viral footage of a Kravitz wardrobe malfunction: “His stuff fell out of his pants.”

Clinton feigns fascination. “I’ll look for that,” she says.
Well, now, they are making the man a sex object. So that's a problem. A bigger problem for Hillary is that talking about a man who can't keep his penis in his pants makes me think of Bill Clinton.

From the second-most-liked comment over there:
Bruni, if you want to make constructive use of your valuable column inches, instead of the kind of comments you might throw over your shoulder at a dinner party, study a specific set of issues and review with people who know about the subjects (not with the shallow partisan talking heads) what each candidate plans to do about the issue.
The reason he doesn't want to do that is the same reason I want to say valuable column inches... there's a phrase.

76 comments:

William said...

Whenever I see two or more women huddled in conversation my immediate suspicion is that they are discussing feminine hygiene products or penises. Lena and Hillary did nothing to allay those suspicions.

Achilles said...

The media cannot dig deeper into the issues. The deeper you get into any issue the more it exposes how DC and the Democrat party in particular has tilted to the playing field in favor of the wealthy. On every single issue. Even planned parenthood, where the director is the daughter of a powerful politician and makes $540,000 a year to run a non-profit, is about keeping activist democrats employed. They will even pay you to throw condoms at republican candidates.

We could get into the more egregious examples like Dodd-Frank which was clearly written by Obama's big bank donor friends to squeeze smaller banks out of business.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

Hillary chitchatting with the noxious Lena Dunham will do nothing but please those already in her camp and further repulse those who are not.

rehajm said...

Is Dunham's newsletter called Lennie because she's mentally challenged and she killed Curley's wife?

Ignorance is Bliss said...

But it’s in large part a Dunham-Clinton love-in, a pajama party minus the pajamas

I have DVDs of pajama parties minus the pajamas, and thank God none of the women look like either Clinton or Dunham.

Gahrie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Bergall said...

Very Presidential of her..........

Lance said...

Dunham has made it clear that she is 100% political. Clinton even more so. Watching these two try to be casual together is jarring. Like the Al snogging Tipper, or Howard Dean screaming, or John Kerry windsurfing.

rhhardin said...

Aristotle says that one who dies crushed by a column does not die a tragic death.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Pro tip for Hillary: If you are already considered unlikeable, desperate attempts to make yourself seem likeable just make you even more unlikeable.

Embrace your inner ugly. It's your only hope.

jr565 said...

Discussing a man's penis? Isn't that objectification of men?

jr565 said...

So I was discussing Lena Dunham's vagina the other day with my buddy... trigger warnings! patriarchy!

JackWayne said...

Dear Ann, Meow.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

They're talking about a man's body, his genitals, and how they were exposed accidentally. That's sexual assault--that's verbal rape, you guys. It's his BODY. They're basically rapists.
"Unwanted sexual looks, leering, comments." 1 in 5, this isn't funny.

jr565 said...

I was discussing an episode of Girls that I saw where Dunham showed off her tits. And I was like "Please stop objectifying women. Or at least that particular woman. Because you are turning me off to women's breasts! If you're going to show breasts, then at least show us Shoshanna's. I'm ok with that objectification. But the stuff they are showing just aint doing it for me".

That's not me objectifying women by the way, thats' merely my commentary on Girls objectifying of women. I just wish they used a different pair of tits.

madAsHell said...

Well, now, they are making the man a sex object.

Where do I sign up??

HoodlumDoodlum said...

"Hey Ben Carson, remember when [female celebrity X]'s breast popped out on the red carpet? Oh, you should look it up." Tee hee hee! Boy's club!

Fen said...

If Team Clinton offers you an interview with Hillary, it means you are either weak or corrupt. Or both.

MayBee said...

They're talking about a man's body, his genitals, and how they were exposed accidentally. That's sexual assault--that's verbal rape, you guys

You make a good point. When Jennifer Lawrence's nude pictures were hacked and distributed, we were told it was a sex crime to look at them. By Lena Dunham.

But a man's pants split open, and people take pictures and distribute them, and that is just a laugh line with a presidential candidate.

Fernandinande said...

Lance said...
Dunham has made it clear that she is 100% political.


It might just be the OldTimersDisease, but I have a hard time recalling who she is and/or why I should care.

Brando said...

Who on earth is going to find her more likable by having her talk to a left-wing poseur who is popular only among the fever swamps of urban millenials?

I suppose this is an attempt to head off the Sanders coalition, who underbrained "celebrities" like Dunham would be going for if not for the fact that Hillary is a woman (never mind what a blow Hillary actual strikes against feminism on several levels). But will the swampies fall for it? Is this too transparent?

Sebastian said...

"Well, now, they are making the man a sex object. So that's a problem."

No problem for Progs, therefore no problem.

"A bigger problem for Hillary is that talking about a man who can't keep his penis in his pants makes me think of Bill Clinton."

Yeah, right. The left didn't care then, why should they (and therefore, she) care now?

Their only morality is political morality.

If Liz would run, Bill could be a problem, not because of his penis but because of his politics -- too right for today's Dems. Against Joe it won't be an issue, and Bill will add the mensch factor to offset Joe's man-of-the-people shtick.

hoyden said...

Able to leap from stuffy to icky in a single bound.

Hagar said...

But it’s in large part a Dunham-Clinton love-in, a pajama party minus the pajamas.

Wish you had not written that. It called up an image in my mind that cannot be unseen.

Anonymous said...

Second-Most-Liked Commenter raises an important question: What are the other candidates planning to do about Lenny Kravitz's wang?

Darrell said...

It's always about dick with Frank Bruni.

damikesc said...

If Team Clinton offers you an interview with Hillary, it means you are either weak or corrupt. Or both.

That's why I don't get the pride in getting an interview with her. I'd hate to have it said directly to me that I'm a little nothing.

You make a good point. When Jennifer Lawrence's nude pictures were hacked and distributed, we were told it was a sex crime to look at them. By Lena Dunham.

Gawker did the same --- while making jokes when Hulk Hogan's lawyers demanded they remove the film and pictures from a video that was recorded surreptitiously (you cannot really argue the celebrity nudes leaked were taken against the celebrity's will). Fortunately, that might end up killing Gawker.

Who on earth is going to find her more likable by having her talk to a left-wing poseur who is popular only among the fever swamps of urban millenials?

And based on the viewership for Girls...they don't like her that much, either.

Darrell said...

Palate cleanser--

http://www.vulture.com/2014/06/supercut-every-vagina-reference-orange-new-black.html#

MayBee said...

I was thinking at first that Obama should try splitting his pants to try to raise his Presidential Polling numbers.

Then I realized I hadn't heard what Obama's approval is polling at right now. I remember it was breaking news every week for Bush.

tim in vermont said...

Clinton feigns fascination

We know that how? These guys have supposedly studied writing, right?

MadisonMan said...

I suppose this is an attempt to head off the Sanders coalition

Agreed. This has very little to do with enticing Republicans. (If it does, Hillary!! needs new advisors)

Peter said...

"That's sexual assault--that's verbal rape, you guys.


If a female has a wardrobe malfunction and a male looks at her, the male has committed sexual assault.

And if a male has a wardrobe malfunction that, too, is sexual assault (because a female might look at him).

It's just a rapey world whenever/wherever males are present, because Rape Culture.

Brando said...

Memo to Hillary--stop trying to act human! It's far creepier. Just lay low and hope to coast through. Here's how:

1) Avoid schlocky interviews like this. Anyone who admires Dunham and thinks she's an appropriate interviewer is already a Hillary fan, though probably too brain dead to figure out how to use a voting booth. Waste of time.

2) Avoid real interviews as well, which you're doing fine with I must say. The last thing you want is a real question which would scramble your circuits.

3) Use your campaign slush fund to keep hiring phony black protesters to disrupt Bernie Sanders appearances (though you likely have already done this) to make him less popular among blacks. Blacks and non-socialist Democrats are your coalition by default.

4) Let the GOP do what it does best, as in blowing elections, but stay below the radar. Don't fake an illness, as people likely will believe you are infirm, but maybe pretend you locked yourself in your car for a few months.

5) By early November 2016, you win by default! It'll be time to hand out favors to your toadies and start cashing in. Don't worry, no matter how bad you do as president you can always blame the secret Republicans for undermining the good things you would have done.

Michael K said...

Bill's junk fell out of his pants a lot. So she knows about that.

Brando said...

This would be roughly the equivalent of Carly Fiorina being interviewed by a baboon, but the baboon is by the law of averages more likely to ask a probing question than Lena Dunham.

In some ways, just by running Bernie Sanders may be doing the GOP a favor by spooking Hillary into veering left--if she were not afraid of him she would likely aim for dead center politically, knowing the far left would still back her in the general election. If the GOP miraculously picks a good candidate who can appeal to moderates, Hillary may lose them.

The funny thing is, while she should have been far more worried about the threat Obama posed in 2008, that was because Obama could cobble together the party's leftist base as well as black voters. Sanders is less likely to pull this off, and may be stuck in the 30% range, but he has Hillary veering left to head him off.

The GOP is getting a good opportunity next year.

traditionalguy said...

The feminist's approach to those valuable column inches seems to be "measure twice, cut off once."

Bay Area Guy said...

The 2 least attractive females on the planet talking about Lenny Kravitz' junk? Yikes.

Carnifex said...

Okay everyone thought it, but no one said it. I will..."valuable column inches" and Lenny Kravitz' dick slip juxtiposed in one article?? I imagine John Holmes would require a complete novel.

Where's Titus when you need him?

And no, even Laslo couldn't make those two gumps sexually interesting.

Big Mike said...

@Althouse, you asked why Frank Bruni is disrespecting these women?

Do you think that an otherwise serious conversation between two women that takes a side step to discuss a man's penis ought to be taken seriously?

If two men were discussing important topics of the day, then veered in a discussion of a celebrity female's tits and vulva, would you take their conversation seriously? Would anyone???

Skeptical Voter said...

I don't want to go there. Have either of these women actually seen what they were talking about? But I digress. Ms. Clinton frequently speaks of things she doesn't know squat about, and when it comes to things that she does know about and as to which she's as crooked as a dog's hind leg, and she's all Sergeant Klink. "I know nuffing".

Laslo will have a field day with this.

Dan Hossley said...

You're kind of all over the place on this one. It seems that Frank is guilty of resorting to cliches commenting about cliches. Shame on him.

Bruce Hayden said...

I just don't see this ending well for Hillary! She is being interviewed by a woman who essentially became famous to many of us by lying about getting raped in college. And this interviewer is interviewing the wife of, protector of, and apologist for rapist Bill Clinton. Maybe it is an attempt to regain street cred with radical feminists by Hillary! after her husband's impeachment. It is still such a disconnect for me - Lena lied about being raped, and Hillary! tried to destroy women who told the truth about sexual assaults by her husband.

Fen said...

Bruce brings up a funny point, Lena should have asked Hillary:

"If I claim Bill Clinton raped me, who would you believe?"

AlbertAnonymous said...

Good God Professor, give it a rest!

If any republican candidate talked about female body parts falling out it'd be front page news 'sexist, patriarchy, war on women'...

When Hillary and Lena talk about male body parts falling out, not a peep, except to complain that the guy writing about it is .... 'sexist, patriarchy, war on women'...

You want these two feminist women fully equal to men (one a popular Hollywood actress, the other a glass-ceiling shattering former secretary of state and presidential candidate) and therefore subject to commentary and correction for inappropriate statements? Or do you want them to be treated as gentle snowflakes that must be protected from all the 'sexist, patriarchy, war on women'...?

Look at me, look at me. But don't judge me... bigot!

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...


Why is Hillary Clinton not in jail?

Bob Ellison said...

Girls

This link will probably improve the show's chances.

Roy Lofquist said...

"Dunham-Clinton love-in, a pajama party minus the pajamas,"

I think I'm starting to get this trigger warning thingy.

Mountain Maven said...

"So why are you disrespecting these women, Frank?"

He's a homosexual and thus has huge women problems. or v.v.

Michael K said...

Dunham seems to be doing about as well as Hillary in her career.

Now that she’s made millions from HBO’s left-wing affirmative action program for the perennially low-rated, she’s fleeing the masses, the same hoi polloi she was so desperate to provoke with her narcissistic nudity, false claims of being raped by a campus Republican and calling her five year-old sister a “sex property.”

Back to the safe confines of her velvet bubble she goes, safe from proletarian criticism.

Michael said...

Hillary Clinton and Lisa Dunham are not "women having a friendly discussion with each other." They are two publicity hounds trying to leverage each others' celebrity. Fair game.

Fred Drinkwater said...

Mr. Lofquist! You Bastard! You owe me a new keyboard!

Fred Drinkwater said...

I'm with Big Mike on the "respect" issue.
If I were intending to analyze an interview of Hillary by Dunham, I would absolutely start from the POV that "respecting" them was the least of my concerns.
Respect must be earned, and it can be lost.
Dunham never earned it.
And even in the BEST case where she once earned it, Hillary has lost it.

Lewis Wetzel said...

"Oh? Is this the kaffeeklatsch?"
Men walking into a room with several men chatting would say the same thing. This gender-based paranoia is insane, Althouse.

rcocean said...

I guess Durnham never brought up Bill and Lewinsky because that would be too vulgar.

rcocean said...

Someone asked who is Durnham? Well, this what I can remember:

1) She's got a TV show that no one except a few SWPL's watch
2) She falsely accused some conservative of Raping her in College
3) Someone somewhere - maybe in LA or NYC thinks she's funny.

That's all I got.

rehajm said...

Dunham seems to be doing about as well as Hillary in her career.

The preferred demographic for girls can't afford HBO. The largest audience was with 50 something men.

Ew.

rcocean said...

I thought 3 women talking at work was a "hen party".

rcocean said...

"The largest audience was with 50 something men."

The same male demographic as "Sex and the City"

Rana said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

Peter: "It's just a rapey world whenever/wherever males are present, because Rape Culture."

Except in "Islam-ia", where actual rape-rape is not really rape-rape because colonialism.

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised that Laslo (he is) hasn't reminded us that Lena Dunham shot an analingus scene to draw attention to her HBO/Girls show earlier this year. Great moment in television, there.

rhhardin said...

Here's the Lena Dunham issue of the Oberlin Alumni Magazine (Spring 2014).

Spring 2015 was Baltimore's Mayor.

chickelit said...

rightguy2 said...
I'm surprised that Laslo (he is) hasn't reminded us that Lena Dunham shot an analingus scene to draw attention to her HBO/Girls show earlier this year. Great moment in television, there.

She's a real brown noser when it come to getting ratings.

SeanF said...

Althouse: I'm having a flashback to the 1970s (and even the 1980s)...

I can't help but think that parenthetical was directed at me.

Just last week, MSN had a link on their homepage to this Good Housekeeping article titled "20 Style Mistakes We All Made in the '80s".

Care to guess what 80s Style Mistake Number 20 was?

walter said...

Big amorphous pajamas please. Not optional. Lights off. Mic off. There.

Laura said...

Cigars. Marbles or rocks. It's only rape when there's a penis in the room.

Oops, sorry Bill. Make that an opposition party penis.

Carnifex said...

OT: a little.

I saw where Bill O'Reilly said that the press was being unfair to Shrillery. I had been losing what respect I had for O'Rielly gradually, as i began to recognize his insertion of HIS agenda into the "NO Spin Zone" Bill's a libertarian for the most part with a nod to conservative values on a few social issues, pedophilia, drug use. etc. I lost ALL respect when he complained that the media was being too hard on the Poorest Gump. I myself didn't think allowing yourself to be roped and herded like cattle, or locked in a closet, can in anyway be construed as being "hard" on a politician.

Lewis Wetzel said...

I have detected a strain of old, blue-collar Democrat in O'Reilly, but I haven't watched his show in several years.

Humperdink said...

Ted Baxter: "We're looking out for the little guy." (gag)

As someone spouted somewhere: "Never trust a multi-millionaire populist".

Mr. Forward said...

Next weeks Guest on the Lena Dunham show- Monica Lewinsky! Wonder what they will talk about?

damikesc said...

So, no problem with Hillary discussing Kravitz' cock --- but Trump discussing Carly's face was offensive?

Curious George said...

"But it’s in large part a Dunham-Clinton love-in, a pajama party minus the pajamas..."

Hope it's "plus" something, too. Because there is not enough Scotch in the world to erase that...

James Pawlak said...

Penis envy?

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Quaestor said...

So why are you disrespecting these women, Frank?

Why not? What have they done to merit respect?

walter said...

Apparently Ann, you can't contain yourself.