In covering Lena Dunham’s account of rape in her new book, I have tried to be fair about her story. But it seems that the time for that is past. Because Lena Dunham herself doesn’t seem to care about her own rape, the alleged assault of two other women, or the fact that this alleged rapist is still a free man. So, it’s either one of two things:
1) Lena Dunham does not care about putting a sexual predator behind bars, or
2) Lena Dunham is a liar who put this story in her book to get attention.

A responsible person, having made this kind of allegation about an act upon herself (one that she acknowledges she is sketchy because of her inebriated state at the time) and in regards to two other women, would file a police report. I am pretty certain that Dunham had no idea that the statute of limitations on rape in the state of Ohio is 20 years (this alleged rape took place less than 10 years ago) before she released this book. As a result, Oberlin College and their police department have a prosecutable crime on their hands – one which both institutions are bound by law to take seriously once those allegations are made – and a “victim” who is unwilling to aid in putting away an alleged rapist.

And if you ask Lena Dunham why she’s not filing that police report and identifying her attacker, well, see what she had to say for yourself.

Some men are enraged by stories of sexual assault that don't have clear cut villains, pimps or men with guns…

— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) October 18, 2014

That's because these stories force them to ask hard questions about their history with consent…

— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) October 18, 2014

Well, we all have to ask hard questions. Grow the fuck up.

— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) October 18, 2014

Thank you to all the women who have shared with me, and to all the men who have said "I believe you." I love you.

— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) October 18, 2014

And I have some news for certain "news" outlets. No matter how much you thump your keyboards with your meat hands we will not stop talking.

— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) October 18, 2014

Say what?

So, in your story, Lena Dunham, there’s no “clear-cut villain?” “Barry,” the campus Republican who allegedly raped you, is not a villain?

Color me confused, because most rape victims DO see a villain, and it’s the person who raped them.

And you were pretty clear about your additional allegations about “Barry” – do you remember those?

In the same chapter she alleges that the following semester she learned that after Barry had sex with another girl named Julia, the “wall was spattered with blood … like a crime scene.”
“The next semester, after Barry is gone, my friend Melody tells me that once her friend Julia woke up the morning after sex with Barry, and the wall was spattered with blood. Spattered, she said, “like a crime scene.” But he was nice, and he took her for the morning after pill and named the baby they weren’t having.”
She also says, “There was a story about him punching a girl in the boobs at a party.”

But he wasn’t a “clear-cut villain.”

And we should just all “grow the f*** up” and stop asking you questions about it. We should just accept your word – with no proof, about a crime still within the statute of limitations, and move on. And we should give you the moral high ground of victimhood, while we’re at it, because you say so. You have no proof, you’re unwilling to name names, and you won’t file a police report – but YOU’RE a victim.

Let me be blunt. Either file that police report or be considered a liar. And more importantly, a liar who will never have any credibility ever again as you advocate for rape victims.

You see, YOU told this story. YOU painted yourself into this legal corner. And now YOU don’t get the right to tell people to “grow the f*** up” if they don’t believe you. Because the burden of proof – that’s on YOU, not us. So make all the excuses you want. But then don’t be surprised if you get treated as a liar and a phony.