Sex and the City was first broadcast twenty years ago. It ran for six seasons over six years and follows four successful thirty-something year old women in New York as they navigate the dating world.
I discovered Sex and the City at the age of eighteen, when the girl who stayed in the room next to mine in halls invited me to watch with her. That girl became one of my closest friends, and like the characters in SATC, she taught me a lot about love, life, and friendship. Sometimes heart-breaking, sometimes hilarious, SATC is important as it is about four women openly and unapologetically discussing sex/men, but ultimately finding their soulmates in each other.
The show is liberating to watch. The women are frank and refreshingly open about sex. They discuss the need to orgasm, their opinions on anal sex, and they do not hold back in the ownership of their bodies. Even in 2018, this is needed. A woman’s sexuality is still seen as dirty, as embarrassing or, perhaps worse, as invisible. The feminine sexual voice is often ignored but it is universal.
This is probably why as a northern girl who grew up in a boring country town, I somehow relate to these women, who strut around Manhattan buying Prada and going on dates with business men. I do neither, but I have had many a bad date and have many hilarious one night stand stories. It shows that women dating, whether in New York or Northumberland, is difficult, embarrassing and entertaining.
Unfortunately, it is sometimes incredibly outdated, such as when Carrie Bradshaw (the narrator) dates a bisexual man. Her comments and opinions on his sexuality are pretty gross, suggesting that he should ‘just pick a side’. These sorts of comments haunt every bisexual, and so for a show so forward it is even more shocking and upsetting. And of course, there is the massive issue of diversity. These women are white and rich, and they mostly only date white, rich men. I try to look over this, like I am sure many of us who watch older shows do, by telling myself ‘it was the nineties’, but in a world where poor and non-white voices are ignored, I do often feel guilty in my love for the show.
But at its core, SATC is about the power of female friendship. These four women are always there for each other, and this is the most important aspect of the show. Regardless of their endless dates and relationships, they never leave each other, and are always there to pick their friends up when needed. Because of this, SATC is still as important as ever, and still resonates with every woman who watches it, regardless of their background. In a world where men rule the screens, SATC is still a breath of fresh air, in its hilarious and uninhibited way.