HBO's Girls and the Awkward Politics of Gender, Race, and Privilege

Description

"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"--The publisher.  Read more... Abstract: This book studies the HBO program Girls from multiple perspectives by comparing the series to similar programs from the past and present by examining it through the lenses of gender, race, sexuality, and culture.  Read more... Content: Introduction : reading into Girls, writing what we read -- She's just not that into you : dating, damage, and gender / Jennifer Mitchell -- "The body police" : Lena Dunham, Susan Bordo, and HBO's Girls / Jocelyn L. Bailey -- Owning her abjection : Lena Dunham's feminist politics of embodiment / Maria San Filippo -- Girls' issues : the feminist politics of Girls's celebration of the 'trivial' / Yael Levy -- Falling from pedestals : Dunham's cracked Girls and boys / Marc Edward Shaw -- Capitalizing on post-hipster cool : the music that makes Girls / Hank Willenbrink -- Generation X archetypes in HBO's Girls / Tom Pace -- Reading Girls : diegesis and distinction / Laura Witherington -- Lena Dunham : the awkward/ambiguous politics of white millennial feminism / Elwood Watson -- Marnye on the ones and twos : appropriating race, criticizing class in Girls / Lloyd Isaac Vayo.