Sex and the City Analysis

When television shows first came about, sex was a subject that was hardly ever brought. Shows did not even allude to the idea that their characters had sex. For example, shows would not say a woman was pregnant, or even allowed married couples to sleep in the same bed. Today, television shows rarely go one episode without showing some kind of sexual act. Sex plays a major role in television. Many people believe that sex sells and the more sex there is the higher the ratings. One television show that changed women around the country and the way they felt about sex was Sex and the City. Sex and the City was a show based on the lives of four single girlfriends who lived in New York City. Carrie, the main character, writes a sex column about her daily relationship with men. Charlotte is the more reserved friend whose main concern is to get married and have a family. Samantha is the opposite of Charlotte. She is sleeps around with different men and doesn't want to be tied down. Maranda is the cynical friend who never wants to do things the traditional way. Most women and their friends tried to identify themselves with those four characters. Out of all the characters, most women wanted to be like Carrie. Carrie's character had three major relationships through the run of the show. Carrie slept around but her sex scenes were not as graphic as Samantha's character. In season one we are introduced to "Mr. Big", who is Carrie's main weakness. She thinks they are in a committed relationship, but we learn he doesn't. She sleeps with him right away like she does with most of the guys she sleeps with. Throughout the seasons we see Carrie and Mr. Big cheat on their significant others with each other, meet up with each other for casual sex and eventually in the end wind up together. Charlotte is the character who sleeps around the least. She is often teased by the other girls because she is not as open to sex. One time when they were sitting around eating lunch and Charlotte was discussing her divorce, the girls tell her the quickest way to get over someone is to sleep with someone else. They don't tell her to start dating and find a guy that would be suitable for her, instead the girls normalize sleeping around. However, Charlotte, like most women, wants sex to mean something. She is one of the only characters that really portrays most women in real life and what most women ideally want. Viewers do not see Charlotte sleeping around with as many men as the other characters, and the men she does have sex are the ones she is in a committed relationship with. Samantha is the character who is the most open about sex. Almost in every episode she has sex with a different person with the exception of one minor relationship with Richard and her longer relationship with Smith. Also, Samantha's sex scenes feel as if you are watching a pornography movie. Samantha takes sex very lightly and feels women should sleep around and not get into relationships because when you sex with no strings attached you do not get hurt. When Samantha allows herself to have feelings for Richard and finds him having oral sex with someone else, he tells her it is not cheating because they are not having intercourse. This sends out a negative message because people will get the idea the oral sex is not considered sex and can be freely done with whomever. Finally, Maranda the cynical one out of the group also normalizes having multiple partners. Maranda does have a relationship with Steve with whom she has a baby with in a later season, but he was her only main relationship and when she got pregnant with his baby they weren't together. Maranda also had sex with men after she found out she was pregnant because she felt that once she started to show, no one would want her. This doesn't send out a healthy message because she is pregnant with one man's baby and yet sleeping with another man. Like Charlotte, Maranda gets married and settles down her baby and Steve. They are the only two characters who in the end are married and create a family.
Sex in the City barely portrays sex as having any consequences. in the show, it is rare to see any of the characters use protection. In a couple of episodes it is implied by seeing condoms in a drawer but you never see the characters pulling a condom out before having sex. Samantha sleeps around but she does not get any sexually transmitted diseases. In one episode she receives an AIDS test because the guy she wants to sleep with asks her to get checked and it she comes out clean, however this shows her promiscuity has no consequences. In reality, it is very easy to obtain a sexually transmitted disease when you have sex with a large amount of people. In one episode Maranda learns she has clamydia and she has to call a number of guys to find out who she received it from. They are the only two episodes out of six seasons to deal with STD's.