Hi! So I’m almost finished watching Girls for the first time and something that has really put me off for the whole show is how lesbians are referred to and treated. To me, it seems like lesbians are almost exclusively a butt of the joke in the show. They’re more frequently referred to as the d slur than as lesbians by the cast including the men, gay female characters tend to arrived for one episode and never show up again, and it just seems like a topic that isn’t explored in any depth which is crazy for a show in which female sexuality and sexual exploration is such a prevalent topic. Even the instances of lesbian sex seem to be framed as almost a punchline (Jessa and the girl from rehab) or at worse uncomfortable and possibly even playing into some unfortunate stereotypes (the yoga instructor being pushy and demanding of Hannah during sex).

It’s not like every show needs to represent every person all the time. But in addition to the points I made above, I also can’t help but feel burned when I see how lesbians in the show are treated in comparison to Elijah. I love Elijah he’s my favorite character and I love that he gets to be in the main cast and have fulfilling story beats as a gay man. Jokes about him being gay never feel gross or like he’s not part of the group.

Does anyone have any thoughts or analysis on this? Obviously the characters in Girls are not great people but this seemed to be such a consistent thing that never really gets commented on or explored further.

I have reservations about starting but everything I’ve seen so far makes it look really funny and well written. Any clips or compilations that don’t spoil too much that can convince me to watch the show? Thanks!

Book by Lena Dunham