Lena Dunham thinks it's "so hard" for young women to date in the spotlight.

Lena Dunham

Lena Dunham

The 'Girls' star defended her close pal Taylor Swift - who has dated the likes of Tom Hiddleston, John Mayer and Jake Gyllenhaal - as she believes she has had a "perfectly normal amount of romantic partners" for someone her age but is "held to impossibly high standards" because of her fame.

Speaking on Howard Stern's SiriusXM radio show, she said: "I think that young women ... it's so hard. I think about the relationships that I had in my early twenties and if they had been public, it would've been a disaster.

"And also, I mean, not to repeat age-old feminist points, but it's like you know, any male actor her age who's going out and dating is applauded and to just have a perfectly normal amount of romantic partners but be held to impossibly high standards by the press, like it's just an unfair and unwinnable game."

Meanwhile, Lena previously described the infamous girl squad - which is led by 27-year-old Taylor - as a "witches' coven".

Speaking of the group - which also contains the likes of Karlie Kloss, Selena Gomez, the Haim sisters, Gigi Hadid and Lorde - Lena shared: "Speaking of camp mother, I feel that Taylor [Swift] has really taken control and said, 'I'm going to get us all together in the same place, I'm gonna make it very clear that friendship is powerful and women are magic and if anybody thinks this is a witches' coven they might be right.' She's just made it her job in a very cool way."