The "GIRLS" are back!
"Girls," is a new HBO show on its third season, and if you have been living under rock, then you should know you have been missing out. I am not going to lie, I am hook! And if the show was a man, you could even say that I am 'whipped.' Lucky for me, before the premiere of 'Girls' last Sunday I had the chance to catch up on the second season during a rerun marathon on HBO. I have to be honest, I was so excited that the third season was scheduled to air that weekend that I could not hardly contained myself.
That night as I immersed myself in the show reruns, I couldn't stop the wheel in my head from turning. I started thinking about how many of us can relate to the character Hannah, played by Lena Dunham, who is also the writer. I asked myself the question: can some of us still remember the time when we were young, clueless and a little awkward? Also, are there really still twenty-something women today who are walking around with no kind of directions in life? And if so, she seems to have captured today's generation to the T! Trust me, I know! I have a twenty-years old daughter, who remembers to ask for money to hang out with her friends, but never remember to get a new social security card. And here's another thing about this generation Hannah will have me believe in playing this character. She will have me believe that this generation is very sexually liberated. Free with ones body to do as one pleases. I dont know about you, but I get the sense that years from now when we talk about this show I'd imagine the caption will read: "when Hannah got naked and started having sex, the Republicans went nuts!" Because that was exactly what happened when the show became a hot topic for Republucans several months back as they were debating once 'again' the issues of 'abortion rights' in the house.
Still, I find myself appreciating Hannah bringing this character to the screen. Furthermore, I find her to be a basket full of interesting layers of a woman. She is vulnerable, because she babbles on and on about her feelings. Sometimes she feels sexy and wrap her legs around her lover. Other times she procrastinate on projects that she finds overwhelming. She is confused about moving on from her on again and off again boyfriend. We see her on the brink of a nervous breakdown short of jumping off a bridge. We see her with friends who are free spirited, and fly where the wind blows. We know those types of friends. They are the friends we love to live vigorously through, and despise at the same time for the same reason. Friends who appears to have it together, but don't. We also see difunctional parents without a clue, but mainly enables who are eager to please, but still trying to find a balance between giving too little or too much. So the answer is yes, we can relate! Indeed Lena Dunham has not only capture the women/girl of this generation, I dare say, she has also managed to capture every women at any stage of her life.
As for the question: are there really still twenty-something women today who are walking around with no kind of directions in life? Yes, I believe so. In my culture, Hannah would have been married off to the first eligible bachelor at her age. In my opinion that's one sure way to get some direction in life. After all, not all of us can or want to make the list of FORBES 30 Under 30: Social Entrepreneurs, Class Of 2014. But I can't say that or even hint at it, because I'll probably get comments like, "On a less sarcastic note, I found her statements to be highly generalized and chauvinistic," from a piece written by Marni Battista, for Huffington Post addressing another writer, Suzanne Venker who wrote an article "Why Women Still Need Husbands" for Fox News website. In Venker's piece she addressed the fact that women are too career driven. In other words, women should just stop competing with men and just be. In a nutshell!
All in all, I think Battista missed the point, but I will leave it at that, because this has been an ongoing debate spin in different ways, e.g., "Lean In" by Sheryl Sandberg. I even chimed in on the topic with a piece I wrote recently: 'Can Women Have It All?' In response to my piece someone commented that I was a total hypocrite for saying women can't have it all on one hand, while pursing my career in writing on the other hand. That may be true, but there's more to it than just pursuing a career. It's called, the 'balancing act.' In my opinion no one seems to have a clue of what that is. I said it before and I'll say again, there is no such thing. I don't need to 'lean in,' or be a Chairwoman of a fortune five hundred company, I just need to be a woman, and that's all! Need I say more?
So yes, lets hear for the "GIRLS!" It's raw, and it's thought provoking. More so, in my opinion it's crazy, sexy, cool! Bravo to the actress Lena Dunham who portrayed Hannah in "Girls".
On the whole, let me end with this quote from the book, "Wouldn't Take Long for My Journey Now"- written by my favorite author, Maya Angelou: "It is imperative that a woman keep her sense of humor intact and at the ready. She must see, even if only in secret, that she is the funniest, looniest woman in her world, which she should also see as being the most absurd world of all times."
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4565230
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4557493
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2014/01/06/introducing-the-forbes-30-under-30-social-entrepreneurs-class-of-2014
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