Actress Lena Dunham has learned to accept her appearance over the years, and now thinks of herself as "body tolerant".

Dunham is always open with fans about her struggles in posts on her social media pages and shared a picture of herself in black lingerie on her Instagram page on March 10, reports aceshowbiz.com.

In her lengthy caption alongside the selfie, Dunham told her followers that while it's been a long journey, she now feels happy to call herself body tolerant -- as opposed to body positive.

She said: "I've never called myself 'body positive' because my relationship with my curves and scars isn't overtly political -- it's wildly personal. And it isn't always positive. I take enormous comfort in the body positivity movement, but I think of myself as something more like 'body tolerant'.

"With a chronic disease (or three), it's impossible not to resent your body sometimes. But we are no longer in an on-and-off toxic romance. We are also not monogamous. I drift toward her and away from her, trying hard to remember that, no matter how I fight it, she is me. I am her. We only have each other, so we gotta stick together."

Explaining her outfit choice, Dunham, who suffers from painful gynaecological disorder endometriosis, said: "And sometimes that means a little lace to remind her I care. To other people living with #endometriosis, I've learned more from you than I can even explain... #EndometriosisAwarenessMonth."