We love Sex and the City!
My oh my, how we love Sex and the City. The tv-series which single-handedly caused a renewed sexual revolution. Our luck hasn’t run out yet, the series just got renewed for a reboot! That’s great news, because a lot of topics the series addresses are more relevant today than ever before. An ode to the tv-series which made (almost) all other series about sex obsolete.
Ever since SATC was released in 1998, Carry, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda have taught women all over the world that it’s okay to enjoy uncomplicated sex. That depth in life can absolutely go hand in hand with a love for shopping and stilettos. And finally, that the search of true love has everything to do with women’s emancipation. You don’t search for love for men, but for yourself.
Sex and the City is not just a TV series, it is a social phenomenon. A liberation for women who regarded themselves as too old for horny sex, women who thought only ‘whores’ used sex toys, and fantasizing about a threesome is the peak of “sluttiness”. At the same time, it was an ode to the aesthetics of looking good. You don’t buy a pair of killer heels to please men, but out of love for beauty, like how another person hangs a beautiful frame on the wall because they enjoy art. And the parade of men passing by? Another pleasant pastime, it’s better to have something nice in your bed (or another location) while you are - very traditionally - looking for ‘the one’.
It sounds like a dime in a dozen: four girlfriends - dressed in the most delicious designer outfits - partying and drinking their way through the Big Apple, while looking for the one. One does it with everything that has a dick, while the other constantly muses about marriage and having children. In real life, these four very different characters would probably never be friends, but that doesn't matter. In fact, it makes SATC the ultimate showcase of sisterhood. Prudish or promiscuous, anything goes and we never judge each other for each other's choices. They are the friends every woman wishes she had.
Talking about sex as a woman? That was not-done in pre-SATC USA. In this sense, the series was groundbreaking, because no matter how different the friends were, they could all agree on one thing: sometimes you just feel like doing it and you should be able to talk about it. All kinds of subjects were discussed and destigmatized: bisexuality, one-night stands, threesomes, STDs, and vibrators to name a few. And who remembers editor-in-chief Julian, who took Carry to paradise (The Vogue walk-in closet) and dropped his pants? #Metoo before the tag was coined. But the series received its fair share of criticism as well. The main characters were said to be superficial, so obsessed with finding true love that they single-handedly helped emancipation back to the past. Carry and her friends didn’t care. “I will not be judged by you or society. I will wear whatever and blow whomever I want as long as I can breathe—and kneel,” Samantha Jones.
Admit it, most of us are on the hunt for true love. The best part is to have someone next to you who knows everything about you, from the sweaty feet you desperately try to hide to that traumatic childhood experience you rather not talk to anyone about. Humans simply want to feel connected, whether that is with a man, a woman, our kids, or - don’t forget - ourselves. And while we are on the hunt for love and connection, why not enjoy your time in a trendy bar wearing something nice, surrounded by amazing friends who’d go through thick and thin for you - and you for them. Why not arrange the occasional hookup date whenever we feel like it? That, my dear, is the epitome of sexual empowerment and emancipation.
