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Carrie Bradshaw goes global
City Journal says Carrie Bradshaw (re: Sex and the City) is now a global archetype. This writer says she has seen versions of her even in Warsaw. Single Young Females (SYFs) “spend their hours working their abs and their careers, sipping cocktails, dancing at clubs, and (yawn) talking about relationships. Sex and the City has gone global; the SYF world is now flat.” So, we wonder:
Is this just the latest example of American cultural imperialism? Or is it the triumph of planetary feminism? Neither. The globalization of the SYF reflects a series of stunning demographic and economic shifts that are pointing much of the world – with important exceptions, including Africa and most of the Middle East – toward a New Girl Order. It’s a man’s world, James Brown always reminded us. But if these trends continue, not so much.
If the story of the 21st century woman is Sex and the City, then what’s the sequel?
Sex and the Childless
Sex and the Angry Middle-Aged Adolescent
Anger and the Baby
Men without women are Brutes. Women without men are Bradshaws. Cue your hate and pity for me.
back to top9 Comments to “Carrie Bradshaw goes global”
I picture a lot of these women turning into Maureen Dowd. Angry, self-obsessed and alone (but for the cats).
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I think Sex and the City is a widely misunderstood show. Yes, it did have a great deal of sex and nudity and vulgar dialogue, (although it was incredibly well-written, funny and very human.)
But what the Christian critics miss, I assume because they’ve only seen a couple of episodes and not really followed the character stories across multiple seasons, is the emphasis on the same traditional values you all seem to think it flouts.
The main characters spend much of their lives feeling restless, dissatisifed and longing as they move from one relationship to another. Eventually, over the six seasons, they mature, grow up, and come to understand that they’re not happy because they are never willing to be satisified. As the series progresses, they begin to see the wisdom of monogamy. (This applies to the secondary characters too.)
By the end of the series, two of the girls are very happily married and the other two are very clearly heading that way.
There are two in particular worth noting. Miranda and Steve, and Charlotte and Harry.
Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) starts off as cynical and distrusting of men. She has shallow relationships because she will not trust. Steve comes into her life, as a boyfriend, then as a friend, but even though they officially broke up, he clearly loves her very much. For example, she has laser vision surgery and while she insists that she needs no help, refusing to admit any weakness, he helps her anyway. She wakes up the next morning to find him asleep next to her … even though he is “just” a friend, he would not leave her alone until she had recovered. They eventually marry after she grows up enough to let herself trust that love is real.
In one really moving scene in the final season, Miranda and Steve have left Manhattan for Brooklyn, and Steve’s mother, with Alzheimers, moves in with them. One day she wanders off, confused. Miranda finds her, brings her home and gently bathes her … an act of love that her old self would never have done.
Charlotte (Kristen Davis) first wanted a storybook wedding, and she got it, with a handsome doctor. But once she learned that she was not able to have children, their very superficial marriage crumbled. She later fell in love with Harry, a short, chubby, bald man with no real social graces… but with a real love for her. They also marry, and adopt a child.
You all should get the DVDs and watch the show, and look past the “sin” to see the real human stories. These characters are as realistically human as any ever on television, and they are struggling to live as modern society tells them they should, even though none of them are really happy that way.
It is not a Christian show, but neither is it as anti-Christian as many of you think. The writers of SATC and Christians are saying a lot of the same things about the value of tradition, monogamy and marriage, and love.
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That was very well put indeed.
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I have never seen Sex and the City.
I prefer Mauree Dowd to that Ann Coulter. Wait, we were talking about women
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I found it amusing that Sex in the City was written by a group of gay men (it has been said that it more mirrored the attitudes/lives of gay men than straight urban women – I haven’t seen enough of it to really evaluate the claim).
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girls rule boys drool I see it everyday. life doesn’t really change much after middle school
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#5 … I understand the show’s main audience was women and gay men. I may be the only heterosexual man who enjoyed it rather than watching to please a wife or girlfriend.
It was a great show though … I kind of regret that they’re making movie. All of the main story arcs came to really nice conclusions in the final season.
To add to what I said above, I also liked the way some of the other characters developed. Mr. Big in particular matured a great deal. Others, who were not in the entire series, remained trapped in their smallness, unhappy and not knowing how to be happy.
Like I said, it’s not a Christian or even a particularly moral show, but the underlying message if you watch the entire series is that love, commitment, purpose and stability bring happiness, while the more “liberated” lifestyle women are told they should lead is often unsatisfying.
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Oh also # 5, you’re mistaken about that. Michael Patrick King, the producer and one of the head writers is a gay man, but most of the writers were women.
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HRW – Life doesn’t really change much after middle school?
That’s a rather depressing thought.
But I think you may be right, where some people are concerned.
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