‘Sexuality exists on a continuum’: Broad City’s queer take on female friendship

Abstract

Comedy Central’s Broad City (2014–19) features a pair of Jewish single women navigating the pleasures and pitfalls of life in New York. Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson’s characters find inspiration and sustenance in each other, rather than their secondary and often fleeting relationships with men. Their bond exceeds heterosexual friendship, as Ilana repeatedly declares her devotion and sexual attraction to Abbi. While Abbi casually rebuffs her advances, the libidinal Ilana pursues flings with both men and women, perceiving sexual orientation as a continuum. Co-creator Ilana Glazer has declined to label her character bisexual, claiming that Broad City was inspired by the adage that ‘everyone under 30 is gay’. By equating sexual fluidity with Millennial culture, Glazer seems to diminish the series’ political significance. However, I argue the series makes key interventions in queer representation by foregrounding the bonds between women, resisting heterosexual imperatives, and introducing queer sexual practices. My article considers the series’ importance to both LGBTQIA+ and straight viewers, combining close textual readings with attention to critical and audience responses. Additionally, I draw from recent scholarship on Broad City to examine how the series’ queer humour emphasizes white Jewish identity and relies upon cultural appropriation.