10 Girls Who Could Be The Next Lena Dunham

Of course, the nature of Lena Dunham is that she's a breath of fresh air, a unique presence in a predominantly male industry — an outlier. But in a recent R29 editorial meeting, our London editor referred to a group of "slashies," a term for those who professionally blur boundaries, like a model-slash-actress or a writer-slash-director. And, whether she isn't your cup of tea or if you are firmly in Camp Dunham (we happen to be the latter), Lena Dunham is the most recognizable example of a young, female actress-slash-writer-director working today. Her success, plus the immense critical conversation she has inspired, has led to script execs beginning to think of shows with pitches that include "women," "New York," "real," "sex," and "funny" in the description.

With that in mind, here are 10 other ladies (two of whom work together) who are just as unique as Dunham, but still have that "slashie" quality. They also aren't just actresses but comedians, writers, directors, and cinematographers, each one following (err, or not following) in the groundbreaking footsteps of a certain "voice of her generation."

So, these gals might not be the next Lena Dunham, so to speak, but perhaps the next gal we'll all be talking about, not only because she gets us, but because she can really, truly do it all.