Lena Dunham’s ‘Girls’ is Revolutionary.
And I don’t want to hear otherwise.
I know I’m a bit late off the bandwagon but I recently watched the first three series of Lena Dunhams’ controversial show Girls in a two-day binge session in quarantine. My thoughts, Girls is a revolutionary show of our generation.
It is revolutionary for the real-ass depiction of the female body. For actually showing the female body on screen. Not in a hyper-sexualized, camera silhouettes of a tight ass in a black thong kinda way, just frankly, as it is in everyday life.
It simply shows: ‘Look, here’s my tits- I’m taking my top off now. Here’s my belly fat, my thighs, my stretch marks- what of it?’
It says, no I don’t have to hide my body because I do not fit the archetypical description of the ‘hot girl’. My body Is valid, real and it deserves to be viewed in popular culture. If you don’t like it, don’t watch.
Nevertheless, the show has considered considerable backlash for its nudity and Dunham has been personally attacked for her body size. Notably, others have hailed her as a body artist and praised the unapologetic sharing of her body for how it has helped to redefine beauty standards for women.
The show has probably been as controversial and disputed as Lena Dunham is herself, as nudity is not the only thing it received backlash for. It was heavily criticized for having an overly white cast, depicting the life of a self-obsessed privileged white girl and an expression of ‘hipster racism’. However, as one reviewer eloquently puts it,
Hannah is a woman, not all women. Hers is a female body, not the female body.- Manola Dargis, New York Times
The show undoubtedly does not represent all women and their experiences, and whilst it isn't perfect, I think we can still embrace it for its triumphs.
One of those is the way she depicts female sexuality, pleasure, and sex. She depicts the good, bad, the ugly, the awkward, and everything in between. I remember one scene where I got such a kick out of Natalia asserting what she wants in sex. When Adam remarks “Yeah, you like it your dirty whore”, she quickly replies, “No, I can like it and not be a dirty whore”. Despite her firmness, Adam still oversteps her boundaries in the next scene…
It made me reflect on my own sexual encounters and that of my friends. That even when boundaries are asserted, it does not mean they are followed. Even when female needs are clearly articulated in sex, whether it be needing some foreplay before you ‘stick it in’, wearing a condom, ‘pulling out’, or just stopping when we stay stop. There are frequent complaints, whining, unwillingness to comply or outright disregard and overstepping of those boundaries.
All the ‘that one time when’ stories women talk about amongst each other, sharing assault stories like gossip over the counter top.
It’s the:
“That time he took the condom off without asking.”
“That time he kept shoving it in my ass after I told him to stop.”
“That time he wouldn’t let me out the door when we were having a fight.”
“That time he wrapped a belt around my neck whilst I was giving him head without asking.”
“That time he said he’d leave me if I had an abortion, despite refusing to wear condoms.”
She shows the ‘that times’ and many many more. I don’t think that’s provocative. I think that’s fucking honest.
So perhaps Girls is not the “perfect revolution” but it is one of a series of shows that we need to change the way we view women, their bodies, sex and relationships. For that, I applaud her.
Want to write for The Pink? We’d love to have you in our community of 400+ writers. Or Follow us on Instagram for more.
