I do admit this is NOT a show for everyone. My husband, for example, finds it uncomfortable to watch and overly dramatic. I have a few girlfriends who think it’s a bit too “raunchy.”
However, what it does provide is a FRESH perspective. I was a huge fan of Sex and the City for it’s fun, glamour and focus on both romantic and female friendship. But as a 30 year-old woman who has lived and worked in NY I think Girls is tapping into realism regarding the common female plight few if any other shows have.

Dunham has responded to her critics by basically saying that she wrote what she knows and that she believes her experience to be representative of her. In an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air, you can actually hear her tiptoeing around the question when she is asked about the lack of diversity shown on screen. She says she never meant to alienate anyone and thinks it is important to acknowledge and respond to this criticism. She previously said she was going to be addressing the whitewashing (not specifically stated, but implied) which has since amounted to one, African America role introduced by Donald Glover as a guy Hannah is seeing/not seeing in the 2nd season premiere. One character of color does not a balanced cast make.

I was disheartened by this non-response. I wish that she would have acknowledged the whitewashing in a less roundabout way that brought something new to the conversation, possibly addressing that a disproportionate number of stories generated mostly by those in power are what gets pushed through and reflected in our culture. I think the first step to challenging power structures is to acknowledge it. So many of us unwittingly benefit from the system of privilege in this country that puts white, middle to upper class males (and by extension, to a degree, females) in advantageous positions simply because of our biology or the sociocultural and economic demographic we were born into. I firmly believe that recognizing privilege and social injustice, especially those who benefit from it – is a huge step in changing the dynamic. People who do fall into positions of power should be using the opportunity to change the conversation and question mainstream narratives. I wish that Dunham could use her voice to talk about why we’re still egregiously lacking in diversity and why our pop culture is still unrepresentative of the masses.

While I definitely appreciate all of the things this piece points out (body image stuff, awkward—realistic—sex scenes, etc.), it’s BEYOND time for shows like this to be showing greater diversity.

There is a lot of talk about race and class representations in the show. I’m curious—has Dunham herself commented on these critiques? What does she have to say?

As I said before, I haven’t seen the show at all, but considering how progressive it seems in these other realms, regarding sex and nudity and body positivity, and relationships, I’m surprised that it is lacking so much in race and class diversity.

The amount of white washing that the show has is beyond problematic. And every time I see Girls I want to scream at the TV “This is not me! We are better than this!”

And we can be.

But the part that turns me off the most is Lena Dunham’s dismissal of other people’s lives and narratives. In an interview with Time Magazine, I really with I could go look up the article right now, Lena Dunham did claim to be speaking for the women of her generation. Specifically through the show Girls.

Well, it does not speak to me and it will never speak for me.