Abstract
This chapter argues that Dunham’s Girls (2012–) makes a deliberate attempt to resuscitate second-wave debates about female sexual and reproductive autonomy that ‘postfeminist’ fictions had once appeared to lay to rest. By asking what is at stake in the show’s candid treatment of consent and abortion, this chapter not only investigates the controversies that have arisen over Dunham’s feminism, but also argues that it is by identifying what distinguishes Girls from a previous generation of female-centred fictions that we might better understand the evolving currency of feminism in popular culture.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Berlant, L. (1997). The queen of America goes to Washington City. Durham: Duke University Press.
Berlant, L. (2008). The female complaint: The unfinished business of sentimentality in American culture. Durham: Duke University Press.
Brownmiller, S. (1976). Against our will: Men, women and rape. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Bruni, F. (2012, March 31). The bleaker sex. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/opinion/sunday/bruni-the-bleaker-sex.html?_r=0.
California Senate Bill 967 Student Safety: Sexual Assault. (2014). California Legislative Information. Retrieved from https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB967.
Cochrane, K. (2013, December 10). The fourth wave of feminism: Meet the rebel women. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/10/fourth-wave-feminism-rebel-women.
Driscoll, C. (2002). Girls: Feminine adolescence in popular culture and cultural theory. New York: Columbia University Press.
Dunham, L. (2014). Not that kind of girl: A young woman tells you what she’s ‘learned’. New York: Random House.
Dworkin, A. (2007 [1987]). Intercourse. New York: Basic Books.
Franklin, S. (1991). Fetal fascinations: New dimensions to the medical-scientific construction of fetal personhood. In S. Franklin, C. Lury, & J. Stacey (Eds.), Off-centre: Feminism and cultural studies (pp. 190–205). London: Routledge.
Freedman, E. B. (2015). Redefining rape: Sexual violence in the era of suffrage and segregation. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Habermas, J. (1991). The structural transformation of the public sphere. Cambridge: MIT Press.
HBO. (2015, February 22). Inside the episode: Episode 38. Retrieved from http://www.hbo.com/girls/episodes/04/38-close-up/video/ep-38-inside-the-episode.html.
Hess, A. (2013, March 11). Was that a rape scene in Girls? Slate. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/03/11/girls_adam_and_natalia_sexual_assault_and_verbal_consent_on_hbo_s_girls.html.
Larcombe, W. (2005). Compelling engagements: Feminism, rape law and romance fiction. Sydney: The Federation Press.
MacKinnon, C. (1991). Toward a feminist theory of state. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
McNamara, M. (2012, April 13). Girls a potent force but it’s hard to love. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/13/entertainment/la-et-girls-20120413.
Mendelson, A. (2014, August 29). California passes ‘yes-means-yes’ campus sexual assault bill. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-california-sexcrimes-idUSKBN0GT0U920140829.
Millett, K. (2000 [1970]). Sexual politics. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Morgan, R. (2014, November 17). Feminist is a 21st century word. Time. Retrieved from http://time.com/3588846/time-apologizes-feminist-word-poll-robin-morgan/.
Munford, R., & Waters, M. (2013). Feminism and popular culture: Investigating the postfeminist mystique. London: I.B. Tauris.
Nolte, J. (2015, June 8). Rape-hoaxer Lena Dunham complains about backlash to her own lies. Breitbart. Retrieved from http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2015/10/06/rape-hoaxer-lena-dunham-complains-about-backlash-to-her-own-lies/>;.
O’Porter, D. (2012). Why Lena Dunham is here to save a generation. Stylist. Retrieved from http://www.stylist.co.uk/people/why-lena-dunham-is-here-to-save-a-generation.
Petchesky, R. (1987). Fetal images: The power of visual culture in the politics of reproduction. Feminist Studies, 13(2), 263–292.
Roe vs. Wade 410 U.S. 113 (1973). Justia: US Supreme Court. Retrieved from https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/410/113/case.html.
Roiphe, K. (1994). The morning after: Sex, fear and Feminism. New York: Little Brown.
Talbot, M. (2012, April 16). Girls will be girls. The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/04/16/girls-will-be-girls.
Valentini, V. I. (2015, April 24). Lena Dunham on why she’s an imperfect feminist. The Cut. Retrieved from http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/04/lena-dunham-on-why-shes-an-imperfect-feminist.html.
Whipp, G. (2013, June 6). Lena Dunham analyzes three episodes of Girls. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/06/entertainment/la-et-st-lena-dunham-girls-201306061.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Waters, M. (2017). Bad Sex and the City? Feminist (Re)Awakenings in HBO’s Girls . In: Nash, M., Whelehan, I. (eds) Reading Lena Dunham’s Girls. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52971-4_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52971-4_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-52970-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-52971-4
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)