HBO's Girls and the Awkward Politics of Gender, Race, and Privilege
Marc Edward Shaw
Language: English
Pages: 210
ISBN: 1498512615
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
HBO’s Girls and the Awkward Politics of Gender, Race, and Privilege is a collection of essays that examines the HBO program Girls. Since its premiere in 2012, the series has garnered the attention of individuals from various walks of life. The show has been described in many terms: insightful, out-of-touch, brash, sexist, racist, perverse, complex, edgy, daring, provocative—just to name a few. Overall, there is no doubt that Girls has firmly etched itself in the fabric of early twenty-first-century popular culture.
The essays in this book examine the show from various angles including: white privilege; body image; gender; culture; race; sexuality; parental and generational attitudes; third wave feminism; male emasculation and immaturity; hipster, indie, and urban music as it relates to Generation Y and Generation X. By examining these perspectives, this book uncovers many of the most pressing issues that have surfaced in the show, while considering the broader societal implications therein.
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Have not tried a lot to lose weight because I decided that I was going to have some other concerns in my life!” This self-reflexive tactic of articulating, through Hannah, Dunham’s own endeavor to remain imperviously self-affirming in the wake of public personal desecration mirrors that of Hannah’s struggle throughout the series to keep her professional integrity intact while facing temptations around money and other self-interests. Dunham’s own efforts to create an authentic, purposeful “voice.
Crackcident” (episode 1.7), Marnie confronts Adam, telling him to get away from Hannah. Marnie’s rescue is ill-timed and uninformed, threatening to press charges against Adam because of his “sick instincts” and announcing that she wants everyone to know “about the kind of man that you are!” This moment is jarring because Adam and Hannah are having perhaps their most intimate, nuanced, and heartfelt conversation of the show’s run so far, about alcoholism, sex addiction, and their relationship.
Ross ends up with Rachel, fulfilling their destiny as “the show’s emotional core” and Monica finds true love across the hall with Chandler.[18] More nuanced “damage” surfaces throughout the series, which provides viewers with overt condemnations of particular sexual and dating choices. Chandler falls for a mysterious woman named Aurora in “The One with the Butt” and is initially smitten by her foreign intrigue. He explains, “she’s Italian, and she pronounces my name ‘Chand-lerr’.
The standard model in our society. Being a member of the dominant culture allows Dunham and others of her privileged world to ignore race. More often than not, the only time they consider or acknowledge race is when they see another person from a different race confronting them or targeting them in a manner they perceive as invasive, impolite, offending their sensibilities, or intruding upon their lives.[20] To her credit, despite her other issues with race, Dunham does not pretend to understand.
Whether Ms. Dunham wants to acknowledge it or not, her privilege as a well-heeled, well-connected white female is evident and cannot be denied. Influential cultural critics do not define her as a “White female writer and producer” as they refer to mega successful television producer Shonda Rhimes and Issa Rae (The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl) as “Black female Writers.” This fact in and of itself, epitomizes white privilege. One’s race is not an issue or barrier to their advancement or.