Lena Dunham is speaking out about the health issues that led her to cut her hair back in 2017.
On Monday, the “Girls” creator and star posted a selfie on Instagram with a full head of hair.
“2 and a half years ago, I shaved my head. Not in a fun sassy way but in a ‘my hair is all falling out from my autoimmune disease, better rush to the nearest barber shop and pay them 7 bucks to do this’ way,” she wrote.
The 33-year-old said she was scared when she cut her hair and knows her decision led people to make assumptions about her.
“At that point, I didn’t have very many health answers and I also didn’t know how to express my fear to the people around me so they just thought, ‘there goes Lena getting another erratic hair cut, just like she has every week since she was seven and cut her own baby bangs with crafting scissors.’”
Dunham wrote that she wants to dispel the notion that women should always have flowing locks. She also said that while her hair has grown back, she may very well shave it again in the future.
“Let me just say, bald is f------ beautiful, and it’s a full myth that ladies are meant to have long luscious hair- that’s why I have an essential issue with the culture of hair gummies and extensions ordered on the home shopping network,” she wrote.
“But my hair growing has been a living metaphor these last few years- all I did was leave it alone and something I had lost all of came back to be. I’ll carry that knowledge forward and then, you know what? I’ll probably shave my head again. Just for fun, this time.”
The actress has endured a series of health issues in recent years.
In 2019, she revealed she had Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a rare group of disorders that causes pain to the joints and other areas.
In February 2018, she disclosed she had a total hysterectomy because of her endometriosis, a condition in which tissue grows outside the uterus. That same year, she had an ovary removed and wrote an Instagram post discussing that she is living with fibromyalgia.
In 2016, she had to skip promoting "Girls" while she dealt with her endometriosis. The next year, she was hospitalized due to the condition.
Despite her health issues, Dunham keeps positive in other areas of her life. In 2018, she shared an uplifting message about feeling "joyous" at a heavier weight, and the following year, she announced she was celebrating one year of sobriety.