Postfeminism and Urban Space Oddities in Broad City." Space Oddities: Difference and Identity in the American City

Lahm, Sarah. "'Yas Queen': Postfeminism and Urban Space Oddities in Broad City." Space Oddities: Difference and Identity in the American City. Ed. Stefan L. Brandt and Michael Fuchs. Vienna: LIT Verlag, 2018. 161-177. ISBN 978-3-643-50797-6 (pb). "VAS QUEEN": POSTFEMINISM AND URBAN SPACE ODDITIES IN BROAD CITY SARAH LAHM Broad City's (Comedy Central, since 2014) season one episode "Working Girls" opens with one of the show's most iconic scenes: In the show's typical fashion, the main characters' daily routines are displayed in a split screen, as the scene underline the differ ences between the characters of Abbi and Ilana and the differ ent ways in which they interact with their urban environment. Abbi first bonds with an older man on the subway because they are reading the same book. However, when he tries to make ad vances, she rejects them and gets flipped off. In clear contrast to Abbi's experience during her commute to work, Ilana intrudes on someone else's personal space, as she has fallen asleep on the subway and is leaning (and drooling) on a woman sitting next to her (who does not seem to care). Later in the day, Abbi ends up giving her lunch to a homeless person who sits down next to her on a park bench, thus fitting into her role as the less assertive, more passive of the two main characters. Meanwhile, Ilana does not have lunch at all, but chooses to continue sleeping in the of ficebathroom, in which she smoked a joint earlier in the day. At dinner, the screen stays split, but Abbi and Ilana share the same space, as they are eating dinner at a restaurant together, during which Ilana's arm reaches over into Abbi's frame and onto her plate as she continuously picks off Abbi's dish. They conclude their days in drastically different ways, as well: Abbi finishes a drawing . In the context of this highly stylized depiction of two 162 SARAH LAHM women's urban realities, Ilana's corporeal experience becomes a karmic payback for her routinely inconsiderate behavior. Abbi and Ilana's different actions within and reactions to their urban surroundings inevitably raise questions about their identifica tion as (post)feminists, as well as their sense of agency in con temporary New York City. Indeed, many of the oddities Broad City's New York City ac commodates are linked to Abbi and Ilana's identification as postfeminist women. By combining images portraying femi nist empowerment and (stereo)typical gender specificities, the show reflects the contemporary cultural trend of feminist trans gression and the need (or perhaps even contemporary women's right) to explicitly thematize gender-specific aspects of every day life. Thus, the audiovisual rendering of Abbi and Ilana's di vergent daily routines exemplifies the postfeminist lifestyle the show celebrates, while simultaneously giving a nod to the spatial oddities that define their urban lives. In fact, Broad City's urban space oddities and its postfeminist agenda feed offone another, for postfeminism is in itself an odd concept, as it tries to define a new zeitgeist that is neither feminist, nor anti-feminist, but in the process of constantly (re-)defining itself. Consequently, an alyzing Abbi and llana's movements through urban spaces in terms of agency is equally complex. In addition, many of the show's comedic moments can best be described as 'oddities', and very often, these oddities are linked to postfeminist ideas and a contemporary understanding of cityspace. Accordingly, my contribution to this volume will focuson the interconnections between postfeminism and the urban experi ence, for Ilana and Abbi's postfeminist mindsets make possible the emergence of New York City's spatial oddities. Broad City's main characters Abbi and Ilana put themselves into a myriad of absurd situations, which are not simply creating comic effects, but are also used in order to portray the complex experiences of young women living in an urban environment. Thus, Abbi and Ilana repeatedly become the center of odd situations in various places in New York City, including streets, bars, banks, restau rants, parks, and doctors' offices. The oddities of their urban ex istences are, I will suggest, consequences of their postfeminist mindsets, which, because of postfeminism'selusive qualities, of ten contradict each other. Despite, or perhaps precisely because URBAN SPACE ODDITIES AND P0STFEMINISM IN BROAD CITY 163 of these contradictions, urban practices and the use of diverse urban spaces are questioned. Thus, the comedic situations that are portrayed in Broad City and the paradoxical forms of identi fication that the show's characters go through ultimately fostera critical comment upon urban spaces as Abbi and Ilana attempt to make sense of their urban environment. POSTFEMINISM ANO ODO URBAN SPACES When discussing a contemporary television show focusing on young women such as Broad City (but also Girls and Two Broke Girls), 'classic' traits of feminist action, as defined in the firstand second waves of feminism, do no longer apply, or are present alongside elements that reject a feminist agenda. Postfeminism is an elusive and, accordingly, contested term. According to Jane Gerard, postfeministsperceive "gender differences, such as want ing to look sexy and flirt" as "playful, stylistic, and unrelated to the operations of social power and authority" (37). Ilana's remark that "we're the sexiest girls here. 'Cause we have like the fattest asses, you know? Like, we're the most fuckable" in the episode "Fattest Asses" encapsulates exactly this aspect of postfeminism. Gerard's definition raises the question whether postferninists may be unaware of the interconnections between gender differ ences and gender politics; and if they are, whether they choose to embrace said differences, anyway.Judith Butler has cunningly observed that "sexuality and power are coextensive and that we must not think that by saying yes to sex we say no to power" (152). Since the political agenda of postfeminism thus seems indefin able, scholars have wondered whether 'postfeminism' is a valid or usefulterm, to begin with. Chris Holmlund has tried to impose a definitionand typology onto the elusive beast. She has divided postfeminism into three separate groups: The category of 'chick' postfeminist women in cludes such diverse expressions of femininity as working girls who date and party and women who stay at home. 'Riot grrrls' are more "eager to carry on first- and second-wave feminist struggles," while postfeminist academics engage in "postmodern, postcolonial, poststructural, queer, (etc.) theory" (Holmlund 116). Sometimes, these different elements are divided between Abbi 164 and Ilana. Ilana, forexample, embodies a steadfastfeminist when it comes to her status as a single woman for whom a monoga mous relationship is not a priority at all. Abbi, on the other hand, represents the modern woman always on the lookout for a ful filling long-term relationship. However, neither 'chick' postfem inism, which takes forgranted the achievements of second-wave feminism or opposes them, nor 'riot grrrl'-dom, which implies a desire to take earlier feminists' achievements further, can con vincingly describe Abbi and Ilana's identities. Instead, the two characters occupy a liminal, odd, space between these two cate gories. In "What a WonderfulWorld," Ilana advertises herself and Abbi (without her knowledge) as ''.just 2 Jewesses tryin' to make a buck" on Craigslist, and promptly, the two of them get booked by a man who wants them to clean his apartment in their under wear. Abbi is more than hesitant at first, but eventually gives in to Ilana, who wants to go to a Lil' Wayne concert so badly that she throws her feminist pride overboard, readily accepting this particular formof objectification. However, when the man refus es to pay them, Abbi and Ilana quickly rediscover their agency, state what they want, and, when that verbal request leads to no where, they undo their previous work by creating a mess Oiter ally and metaphorically undoing their anti-feminist deed) and taking items from the apartment with them. Thus, both 'chick' postfeminism and '1·iot grrrl'-dom have been captured within this one, poignant incident. Abbi and Ilana display tendencies of both 'chick' postfeministsand 'riot grrrls' in their statements and actions, showcasing how the characters are caught in a network of postfeministparadoxes. Accordingly, each of the two characters does not simply rep resent one type of contemporary femininity; instead, both dis play a complex mixture of various femininities. This notion of the female subject in constant flux has the potential to be a pos itive (dare I say 'progressive'?) representation of femininity, as "feminism has been the victim of media stereotyping and draws strength from its 'chameleon-like organisation"' (Brooker 101). Broad City is situated within a contemporary New York City in which women are hopeful that the United States will celebrate the election of its first female president. As a serial narrative, Broad City thus has the opportunity to display a multiplicity of facets that are all part of what can be considered the feminine. URBAN SPACE ODDITIES AND PosTFEMINISM IN BROAD Crrv 165 PUBLIC SPACE, AGENCY, AND URBAN SPACE ODDITIES "An attachment to place," Linda McDowell remarks in her essay "Place and Space," "whether voluntary or chosen, retains its sig nificance forlife chances, ways of living, access to resources and cultural identities" (12). This argument applies to Broad City in several ways. For example, Abbi and Ilana's expressions of their cultural identities reflect the diversity and inclusivity present in New York City. When it comes to the "life changes" and "ways of living" McDowell mentions, Abbi and Ilana's attachment to the spaces they inhabit may be significant, but there is another, stronger component that plays a significant role in virtually all plotlines of Broad City, namely randomness.

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