The Rise of Awkward Black Women
On October 15, 2015, HBO picked up Insecure, a comedy-drama created and starring Issa Rae. The show is based on Rae’s award-winning web series The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl, which ran for over five seasons. Insecure has become a significant representation for young Black women, portraying authentic depictions of friendship, career failures, goals, and relationships. However, what makes Insecure such an iconic show and adds to the canon of Black television is the inclusion of awkwardness as a Black woman.
Despite the existence of examples of awkward Black women in television, like Synclaire James from Living Single, Freddie Brooks from A Different World, or Mona Rose Thorne for Half & Half, all three women share a similar look: they were 3c curly-haired, relatively light-skinned women. As a dark-skinned Black girl with 4c hair, I still desired to see a version resembling me. It is also worth mentioning that these examples are several decades old, as the final episode of Half and Half premiered in 2002.
To contextualize how unique Insecure was, it’s essential to consider what other shows starring Black women as the lead characters were airing at the time. We had Olivia Pope, played by Kerry Washington in Scandal; Annalise Keating, played by Viola Davis in How to Get Away With Murder; Mary Jane, played by Gabrielle Union in Being Mary Jane; and Cookie Lyon, played by Taraji P. Henson. Each woman listed played an iconic role in their own right, but these characters were in shows that were high-stakes dramas and not quickly as relatable.
Insecure fulfilled the representation I was looking for. Here is a Black woman in her mid-20s whose life wasn’t as high stakes as Olivia Pope or Cookie Lyon, but the problems that she went through were things that I either have been through or were expecting to go through in my mid-20s. Most importantly, as Issa faced life, she failed; she was flawed, she wasn’t always confident, and her awkwardness broke down the typical self-assured Black protagonist we saw on television. She didn’t have to be strong; she could be perfectly imperfect.
In addition, it is worth noting that Issa was one of many characters in the show who exhibited a certain degree of awkwardness. A range of characters, including Molly, Tiffany, Kelly, Lawrence, and Nathan, also demonstrated awkwardness and relatability. The wide range showcases that the societal expectations of Blackness that we are often confined to can be broken if we try, and that vulnerability doesn’t take away from our masculinity or femininity but instead enhances it.
The emergence of shows such as Insecure has led to a rise of other Awkward Black women creators. Among these is Quinta Brunson, who, in a similar fashion, created and stars in Abbott Elementary as an awkward Black school teacher in a workplace comedy. Ayo Edebiri stars as a talented but socially awkward sous chef in The Bear, while Michaela Coel’s work in the critically acclaimed I May Destroy You explores the uncomfortable and anxiety-inducing effects of rape culture in society. Looking to the future, I hope that more young, awkward Black women creators will emerge, normalizing awkwardness as a badge of honor that all Black women can proudly wear.