National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Paper: All Adventurous Women Do: HPV, Narrative, and HBO’s Girls

If you were navigating your twenties around 2012, you probably remember the moment perfectly. HBO Girls’ Hannah Horvath (Lena Dunham) is in her bedroom dancing to Robyn’s "Dancing on My Own" after receiving an HPV diagnosis. She types a tweet, deletes it, and then types the line that defined a generation: "All adventurous women do."
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It was a cultural reset. Suddenly, a diagnosis that used to feel like a scarlet letter became a badge of honor. Fans even started getting the phrase tattooed on their bodies. It was a way to say that we are out in the world living full, unfiltered, real lives.

It became such a conversation starter that researcher, Brian Rogers, published a paper analyzing the episode for the National Institute of Health, titled, “All Adventurous Women Do: HPV, Narrative, and HBO's Girls.” He points out that the characters suffered from "severity oscillation". That is a fancy way of describing the emotional whiplash we all feel when seeing a “positive” or “abnormal” test result. One minute Hannah is screaming "I HAVE PRE-CANCER!". The next minute she is shrugging it off as "water under my vagina", in part, because she spoke to her friend Shoshana and found out their friend Jessa has HPV and that she says “all adventurous women do.” This comfort that Hannah felt after talking with her friend and realizing she isn’t the only one, helped calm her. (Get tips on how to talk about cervical cancer screening with your girlfriends.)

In the paper, Rogers criticizes a couple narratives in the episode:

These are important discussion points, but in the end, it was her very relatable reactions to getting a result that scared her, wanting to know where she got it, and overcoming that fear after talking with her friends that caught the attention of viewers. Yes, we hope she followed up with her doctor and is monitoring her infection, but we need to applaud Girls for showing a woman getting her cervical cancer screening done - which today, 1 in 4 U.S. women are not doing - and helping to inform women that yes, the results may be scary at first, but it is better to know, you are not alone, and you will be ok. 

There is still so much confusion swirling about HPV, and this is in large part to it being a sexually transmitted infection. It is often stigmatized - even though 80% of adult men and women will get it in their lifetime. It has even been referred to as the common cold of sex. Yes, most will clear the infection naturally, but it is a virus that women need to monitor to ensure a persistent infection doesn’t cause cervical cancer. This is especially important because cervical cancer doesn’t usually show any symptoms until the cancer has progressed. (We are focused on cervical cancer here, but we should also note that HPV can cause other cancers, such as throat, anal, and more.) 

Thankfully, there have been so many advancements in HPV testing, in-clinic and at-home self-collection for HPV testing for cervical cancer screening, and the HPV vaccine. We have the tools and are better prepared now than ever before to stay on top of this screening and the follow-up steps. (See our article on the history of cervical cancer screening and how HPV testing is now the preferred test. [link to blog])

We hope more shows will show women screening for cervical cancer, testing for HPV - the preferred and most sensitive test - and tackle these very real situations,  promoting preventive health and providing more comfort and information for women. 

And Rogers agrees, stating, “It is argued that mediated narratives, such as Girls, might have the potential to transform social attitudes and actions and should thereby garner attention from health communication scholars and public health advocates.

”We couldn’t agree more. Adding "Dancing on My Own" to my playlist now. 🙂



‍This article was written by Elizabeth David from Teal Health.