YAS QUEEN, I am addicted to Broad City. If you don’t yet watch, please figure out a way to get your hands on every episode as fast as humanly possible and settle in for a binge watching session like no other. You’ll enjoy ridiculous Bed, Bath and Beyond excursions and rollerblading adventures, and you’ll learn lots of cool lessons too because Abbi and Ilana are the best female duo since Amy Poehler and Tina Fey came around.
I see pieces of myself in both Abbi and Ilana. I shake my head at each of their shenanigans and can always remember when I did something similar. It allows me to laugh at them and myself at the same time, which has kind of been like really cheap therapy.
It might not be the newest Discovery Channel documentary, but there is a lot to be learned from these funny New Yorkers in every episode, while spiraling into a fit of giggles because this show is funny as fuck.
1. It’s okay that I’m weird and have no filter.
I have always been the outspoken and the terribly uncensored twit that I am today. I have made vain attempts to rein it in, but one of the shows leading ladies, Ilana, taught me to be okay with being me. Ilana is unafraid to speak her mind and is confident in the stances that she takes on issues from feminism, to sex, to immigration. She loves being a woman and all that it entails; she not only appreciates, but loves her body, and she is completely unashamed about her highly sexed thought train (except when expressing her love for Abbi). She loves being topless and has an insatiable sexual appetite AND THAT IS OK!
2. Television has been mis-representing women for way too long and it’s time for a change.
Strong women are usually shown as outspoken and aggressive. Abbi’s character on the show is still searching for her voice and that doesn’t make her weak. Just because she doesn’t always stand up for herself, that doesn’t make her any less of a woman or feminist. The Abbi off camera, when asked if the show was about feminism said, “It’s just real. And maybe that’s part of feminism—showing real women versus what we had seen on TV for so long.”
3. I don’t need no man because being single is awesome.
Sex in the City might have gotten me through breakups, but Broad City makes me not even want a boyfriend. It makes me feel completely comfortable with going home and settling in with an episode of Archer, a pint of vegan Ben & Jerry’s and my dog. Broad City does not promote getting down in the dumps about being single but instead explores open relationships and testing relationship boundaries due to their own needs. The perfect example being whatever it is that Ilana has going on with Winston.
4. Just because you got your period doesn’t mean that your whole day is ruined.
A lot of the time, women’s lives are made out to be so dramatically rough and exasperated. The duo makes life seem fun and vibrant. Life feels more enjoyable because they are able to be themselves in the most authentic of ways.
5. As a woman, I should not be wishing the hot blonde sitting across from me would burst into flames just because I feel fat and bloated.
Ilana and Abbi are always working together to make the dream work. They aren’t catty and in competition with one another. They are always promoting each other to become better people and complementing each other’s strengths (like Abbi’s majestic butt). The genuinely want to see each other succeed, unlike the all too common competition and resentment that exists between women.
6. Until watching Broad City, I kinda thought using the word “feminist” was a social faux pas.
There are a lot of women that take feminism to different extremes, but Broad City’s version of feminism is hilarious. In Season 2 Episode 10, Abbi and Ilana are told “you girls are pretty, you should smile;” something a man would never hear. Middle fingers high, they put a smile on their face and put the man in his place without a single word.
7. It will make you believe that you can survive just about anything.
Life can get really hard. Abbi has to deal with her douche bag boss, but she still finds ways to make her job fun and stay hopeful of one day being a fitness instructor. Ilana’s bathroom stall naps are an inspiration to every millennial that has ever worked the brain numbing desk job. These ladies inspire me to get out of bed on Monday mornings and brave what the world is going to throw at me with a smile.
8. My boyfriend always thought of me as a perfect little fairy princess and it drove me crazy, until now.
Your boyfriend may claim that he understands women, but until he watches a season or two of Broad City, he may still be living in the dark. Ilana and Abbi show that, much like men, we get mustaches, get constipated, and have lesbian fantasies (…right?). He just won’t get it until he watches it.
9. It reminds you that we all have to play our part in making the world a better place.
Ilana’s “I Bike” song will be stuck in your head for days. Do not YouTube it, I’m warning you. Illana loves her bike and takes advantage of the bike-ability of the city. She turns her bike lock into a fashionable accessory and makes commuting around the city look cool. Abbi somehow makes rollerblading fashionable again. It is enough to make you want to go digging through the attic to pull your wheeled booties out to take advantage of the trail systems near you.
10. Watching people like you can be inspiring.
We haven’t seen females in their 20s creating so many TV shows until now. Ash Eliza Smith and Kim-Anh Schreiber’s version of Broad City, Candy Ego, is based on life in SoCal. The many noir jokes may have you booking a trip to the west coast to see what San Diego is all about. Check out the online satire comedy to keep you occupied while the Broad City girls are filming their new season. I bet that we see more females following in the Broad City girls’ footsteps.
