1) HBO drama series, 2) juvenile detention documentary

I find it strange that when you type "girls" and then "girlhood" into Google, the top results for both are representations of these words in the media (a TV show for one, a documentary for the other).
(Documentaries are arguably less driven by media assumptions/institutions, because the point of a documentary is to uncover the daily life of a world less explored by the general public. However, I feel that documentaries are very controlled, closed-off environments, and so while they may be interesting and accurately represent their subject matter, they are often not wholly relatable to a wide range people and their experiences.) In this case, the documentary Girlhood is about female inmates in a juvenile detention center, which may be relatable to some, but I'm not entirely pleased that the documentary is the first source that comes up when searching for the term.

I hesitate in saying that the film (especially because I have not seen it, but simply going off of a superficial glance at the google page) is not an accurate representation of "girlhood," but I feel that girlhood should be more of a broad term, like a term for a girl's childhood? No, maybe its range is wider than that, to the essence of a girl and her connections to being female. As I write this response, I think of themes like the struggles of a girl to become her own person. A girl's struggle to grapple with this term "female" and make sense of it herself. (I feel that this same definition or overarching struggle applies for boys and the term "boyhood" or "manhood.")

However, here I go back and look at the synopsis of Girlhood the documentary, and I find it is about much more than the American Justice System and their treatment of young girls who have committed serious crimes. While that is the premise of tagline ("Documentary chronicling America's justice system. Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center"), the story appears to be inherently about the girls, not their stories of jailtime. The documentary follows these two girls and their difference in attitude to their crimes and their motivations (one is truly motivated to turn her life around, while the other attempts to get off on her charms instead of taking the program seriously).

At first glance, I don't appreciate the media-dominated assumptions of girls' lives ("girls" being an HBO drama about 20-somethings and #whitegirlproblems, and "girlhood" being a documentary reviewing a darker, less-publicized side of adolescent life) as projected by Google results. I would much rather see more "real" stories from "real" girls discussing how to overcome their fears of social anxiety, insecurities, I don't know, and other important (Important, in that it shouldn't be ignored! Common, in that every girl has felt this way! Significant, in that it should be discussed, not shamed, and most importantly,  overcome!) worries that girls face. However, to be fair, upon further investigation of Girls and Girlhood, I see that their intentions are admirable (especially in the case of Girlhood, I feel, because the HBO drama gives more of an "entertainment" feel) in the depictions of "young" girls and their struggles with their inner demons. Essentially, that's what I feel the process of "girlhood" is.*

*Though thinking about it now, girlhood is also a shared feeling/quality among women!! There are lots of layers to this word - as a process, as a quality, as a label or a stage in life - and the discussions could go on forever.