Sex and the City

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ5bo1exRec&feature=fvw

The HBO series Sex and the City completed its sixth and final season in February 2004 after 94 episodes.* During its time on the air, Sex and the City became a cultural phenomenon that shaped the way a generation of women view fashion, careers, relationship and sexuality. In its six-year run, the show followed the escapades of four modern, successful, single women living in New York City. Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte each brought forth differing views on sex and the single woman, yet all remained a part of the post-modern, “post-feminist” vehicle, which drives our highly sexualized society. Sex and the City is often seen as a progressive series, which broke down many of the barriers society had with female promiscuity. Through its candid dialog about women and sex, the show inspired some, angered many and expanded the accessibly of conversation about female sexuality.
Carrie Bradshaw and company, though fictional characters, have served as sexual role models for a generation of women looking to redefine their role as single bachelorettes in New York City. This piece of media from first episode of hit HBO series, Sex and the City, portrays four women bent on reclaiming sexuality for themselves rather than accepting the socially constructed concept that women are objects for a men’s sexual pleasure. We all recognize the danger that objectifying an entire gender, the solution that these women pose is not necessarily a fix to the problem but simply a reversal of roles. As Samantha says toward the end of the clip “this is the first time in the history of Manhattan that women have as much money and power as men plus the equal luxury of treating men like sex objects”


The following clip is from the very first ten minutes of the pilot episode for Sex and the City. It introduces the viewer to the four main female protagonists as they discuss that status of “unmarried women” and “toxic bachelors” in Manhattan. From the very first episode Sex and the City thrust forward a seductive— some might say raunchy— storyline which portrayed the female characters engaging in sex without the complications of emotional attachment. The urban women, according to Carrie, must deal with the new “age of uninnocence, where no one has breakfast at Tiffany’s and no one has affairs to remember. Self protection and closing the deal are paramount.” Carrie, Samantha, Miranda (and to a lesser extent for the romantic Charlotte) vow to break away from the unhappiness that failed relationships have caused them and just go out and live life. They adopt the “if you can’t beat ‘em, join’em” mantra when it comes to sex. Tired of being treating like sexual objects, they decide to turn the tables and simply “have sex like men”.
Initially, the shows basic premise seems in tune with the feminist movement. Using television role models, Sex and the City advocated liberation for the modern woman, asserting that the key to happiness for many females does not lie in homemaking motherhood and housewifery. Most feminists would accept this thesis as a sound progression of the post-feminist movement, however, the methods by which the shows main philosophy is carried out is definitely cause for contention.
As we discussed in class, today’s woman must walk a very fine line on the spectrum on femininity. They must assume a double identity, encompassing dichotomous traits of the bitch and the girly-girl, of the masculine and the feminine in order to find a respected position in society.
Samantha, the most promiscuous of the foursome is the strongest advocate for this life philosophy of “having sex like men”. She herself is a highly successful PR executive who, in many aspects of her personality, adopted the method of “passing”. She has rejected the emotional side of femininity and sexuality, which she perceives as weak, in favor of a masculine aggressive persona. In both career and relationships (but certainly not in physical appearance) Samantha has cast off the “weakness” of womanhood in order to gain access to power. She embraces the societal labels of “bitch” and “slut” and uses them to her advantage. Levy is especially critical of women like Samantha. She says:
“There’s just one thing: Even if you are a woman who achieves the ultimate and becomes like a man, you will still always be woman. And as long as womanhood is thought of as something to escape from, something less than manhood, you will be thought less of too. ”
I definitely understand Levy’s viewpoint. Women who are adopting qualities typically associated with the masculine may find personal success, but they do nothing to flip the sexist notion than a woman is lesser member of society. Levy does have a point but I do not necessarily agree with her entire statement nor do I accept her criticism of women like Samantha. Levy is essentially claiming that successful women who have employed this passing method, no matter what grand accomplishment they have made, will still be thought of as less than a man. Why should we criticize Samantha, or any other woman guilty of “passing” if it is in fact the only (or best, or easiest) way to find success in one’s career?
Levy believes that Sex and the City, and similar raunch-culture media, is a “corruption of feminism”. Certainly the direction that the Sex and the City women have taken is not feminism in its purest form, but I would hesitate to call it corrupt. In a sense, these women are declaring independence from the traditional role of a woman in her late thirties. We can hardly criticize a woman for living for what she want, be that power and money and sex or a husband and home. Levy is mistaken in her claim that the initial feminist goals of egalitarianism and satisfaction are compromised by the show’s sexual liberality. I see no fault in the character’s philosophy to reclaim their independence by forgoing the traditional, antiquated path of the female in favor of libertine “live for now” viewpoint