Let’s get one thing out of the way: For all the critical duress and conversation it’s generated, we absolutely love Girls. As the singular vision of MVP storyteller Lena Dunham—whose laissez-faire approach to nudity takes some getting used to, but is actually kind of hot—there’s no denying it: Girls has managed to nail the Millenial zeitgeist. (For white, middle-class urbanites, at least.) Indeed, in its two seasons, Dunham and co. have gotten plenty right about girls and, by extension, guys—but they’ve gotten a few things wrong, too. Read on.
We don’t use condoms
When Hanna learns she has HPV in Girls’s first season, she discovers that Adam, her then-love interest, doesn’t use condoms. He hates using condoms. He insists on not using them. And there’s a grain of truth here: No guy loves using condoms. But we’re also not stupid—and we get that there’s times when we need to use them. Like when we’re sleeping with strangers. Or when we don’t want to knock someone up. Or if we happen to have something sexually transmitted. Or… Do we need to go on?
We’re quick to lean on our power
We have a name for guys like Thomas, Jessa’s once-husband: We call ‘em douchebags. Upon first meeting, he tries to buy his way into a three-way with Jessa and Marnie. He marries Jessa under the premise that he’d support her financially. He eventually throws money at her to make her “disappear.” No, don’t confuse Thomas’s character with ours—because we don’t pay people to sleep with us.
We suck at finality
Is anyone else glad that Charlie’s leaving the show? No disrespect to Christopher Abott, who’s a fine actor in his own right, but Christ, did he ever get cast the short end of the stick. Despite his bona fides as a small business owner—and full props at Girls’s subtle mockery of tech startups—Charlie was forever tethered to Marnie. Who, while drop-dead gorgeous, isn’t worth the trouble: She cheats on him. Openly derides his apartment and lifestyle. Comes back once he’s earned his fortune. The smarter among us—or at least those who aren’t colossal pushovers—know it: When a relationship’s over, it’s over.
We think no means yes
Ladies: Let’s make on thing clear. When a drunken Adam tells Natalia to “get on all fours” against her will, it made us plenty uncomfortable, too. Men, too, know how to read signals, and we have a title for those who don’t understand the simple concept of consent: Rapists.
