(Photo courtesy of Comedy Central)In this world of whitewashed femininity, our only solace is the biweekly infusion of poop jokes, short skirts and sex scenes (where the woman actually appears to be enjoying herself) provided by HBO's "Girls" and Comedy Central's "Broad City."
The majority of viewers seem to have accepted Lena Dunham's gang, as well as "Broad City's" beautifully, disgustingly brilliant creators, Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, as their comedic messiahs. However, the media attention on the shows all seems to meld together into the same condescending critique of the show's similarities, which extend all the way from both shows having funny, slightly brown women to both being set in the ubiquitous New York City.
The success and humor of these shows is routinely tainted by critics each week who, rather than judging each show on its individual merits, stoop to compare the two different comedies simply based on the shows' prominent female presence.
The casts and creators of white male-centric comedies such as "Workaholics," "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" are not subjected to the same belittling comparisons as "Broad City's" co-creators Jacobson and Glazer and the "Girls" cast are. These comparisons are the product of of the ingrained sexism and racism of the entertainment industry.
"I think that there's room for more, and that ours can exist right next to that ('Girls')," "Broad City" co-creator Jacobson said in an interview with Fusion Network's "AM Tonight." "'Workaholics' is never like 'It's Always Sunny (in Philadelphia).' . . . No, you can watch both. I watch both of those shows, and they're great and they're different characters."
"Nobody is like 'Wait, wait, wait, white dudes. What about this white dude's show?'" Glazer said.
Rather than wasting time comparing these two different, though equally funny, female-driven comedies to each other, the public should instead be focusing on how far we've come from the ever-insulting "women aren't funny" debate of years past.
With such greats as Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Amy Poehler and, yes, the casts of "Broad City" and "Girls," smashing the television patriarchy each week with their hard-hitting, sometimes-raunchy comedy, the debate over which female-driven show is funnier ignores the value of the comedy itself and instead focuses on the femininity of it.
The focus of the coverage of these shows, instead, should be on the fact that there are two widely watched and enjoyed television comedies on air in which the main writing, directing and acting credits belong to young women. This well-needed diversity brought to mainstream comedy is something deserving of praise rather than of demeaning comparisons.
By comparing these shows, whose only real similarities are the presence of funny women and the New York City setting, critiques of the shows oversimplify these two comedies.
Rather than putting these shows two-and-two, why can't we accept them for what they are? These different, though equally brilliant comedies, highlight the diverse experiences of young women in New York City. Dunham and the rest of the "Girls" gang's brand of (sometimes depressing) feminine faux pas is nothing like Jacobson and Glazer's masterful blend of bathroom humor and frighteningly honest depictions of the life of a twenty-something in a big city.
One day, we'll hopefully live in a world where the race, gender and class of a show's writers, directors and actors won't even be worth mentioning. Until then, shows like "Broad City" and "Girls" need to be appreciated for their feminist significance, but also for the fact that they're two gritty comedies led by a bunch of women who also happen to be damn funny.
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