TV Series - Sex and the City - Essay Example

Writer’s name] [Professor’s name] [Course title] [Date] Sex in the City Introduction The sex in the city is intense representation of how every woman symbolizes different characteristics; its theme revolves round the same the concept. The show can be considered as a complete revolutionary challenge against the stereotypes of gender that exist in society, however these women disagree with this achievement by acting obediently and basing their lives around the opposite sex. Its message challenges and validates a lot of cultural assumptions regarding women and they way they act towards sex along with independence. This daring and challenging series resolves round four single women with different careers, personalities, and lifestyle. Each character represents one of the four facets of the single 30-something urban modern women. Carrie is the vulnerable, curious writer, whereas Charlotte is the sweet natured and naive. Samantha represents the seductive and promiscuous dame in all of us, while Miranda, a lawyer, proves that women can succeed in a male dominated profession. By coming together on the show and sharing each other's experiences about single life in New York City, they are able to answer viewer's questions and concerns, and relate with problems that bother all of us, not just successful and beautiful women NYC. The city plays an active part in giving these women their freedom." The significance of the opening sequence is greater than the picturesque of the city's landmarks; there were various closed-up shots of Carrie, focusing on her eyes, her vision, planting Carrie in the position of an observer, with the bustling city street background. Thesis Statement The show can be considered as a complete revolutionary challenge against the stereotypes of gender that exist in society Analysis Carrie is the best character to portray how gender stereotypes are broken in sex and the city. Carrie is considered a "a voyeur who flits from place to place, event to event, sometimes walking the city streets to bring us views of contemporary New York City, its inhabitants and their daily lives." Also, throughout the six seasons, Carrie is consistently filmed walking the streets of New York City, with four scenes the least, in each episode. To further emphasize her role as a flaneuse, there are perpetual implications throughout the series to the act of walking, and shoes, in which she has a fetish for in the programme In juxtaposition, the flaneuse is often unfavorably associated with the prostitute. The flaneur as a journalist can be seen in some ways as a prostitute, selling his writing as a commodity, just like a prostitute selling her body. It is not unusual for one to initially label Carrie as a prostitute and not a flaneuse. She writes a column to support herself; her writing is a commodity for sale, which is deemed by some as that of a prostitute; a commodity to be bought. Certainly, Carrie would have been perceived as a promiscuous woman in the modernist era. To identify Carrie as a prostitute is fairly myopic, and should be reconsidered with respect to the changing public space in the postmodern city. In the contemporary times, women are no longer confined in their domestic sphere, they are free to explore all public domains and have since acquired power in society; this marks a progressive and unquestionable revolution, “the postmodern city is an open and migrational one, available to female as well as male walkers of the city street."(Parsons p1) Carrie's role as person who wants women to break free from the gender taboos is acknowledged by her mobility throughout the postmodern city. Her visibility in this position of the flaneuse is emphasized concurrently by her writer profession and her wardrobe. Akin to the traditional pursue of modernity, Carrie enjoys watching and being watched. However, she is not particularly fond when her friends continually promote her as a celebrity writer; she prefers to shy away from the situation. Nevertheless, Carrie prefers to put herself in the limelight through the fashionista in her. Indeed, Carrie's wardrobe is as much an essential part of the programme as sex and New York City, thus evoking Baudelaire s idea that a "woman and her dress (are) an indivisible unity." Fashion plays a huge part in inviting attention to Carrie and supplementing that with her celebrity status, she becomes an extremely visible gender taboo. Hence, clearly, in the context of Sex and the City, it seems that the practice of flanerie has endured the shift from modernity to post modernity less than flawed. The modernist flaneur Carrie was subjected to progression, and made to broaden horizons lest facing extinction in the postmodern era. Sex and the City is directed around the theme of gender taboos, Carrie Bradshaw portrays it as she shows women how to break free from the undeniable gender-divided taboos. As she can move freely throughout the city, she takes up the role of the flaneuse and who wants to write about the stories of the city. It can be said that post modernity helped Carrie to break free from gender taboos of society. Carrie‘s tabooed stories seems to be so famous that a poster of her face is put up on a New York City bus. This helps her in getting famous throughout the city. Carrie makes a statement which provides the framework for Sex and the City. "No one had told her about the end of love in Manhattan," Carrie said. "Welcome to the age of un-innocence." Women have always been taught and programmed to believe that love is what they want, but now that it has "flown away" what is left? They can only conclude that what is left is sex. Whether the women of New York will trade in love for the power of sex was to been seen the past 6 seasons (Cordova p1). She seems to break all barriers of gender and as she captures the lives of those women who are looking for love in New York. She uses her stories and the stories of her best friends. Carrie writes about mainly about sex and what women feel about it .And in some way, throughout all her research and comprehension, even though she is so liberal her famine side pushes to find true love. Carrie, the leading character, stumbling around adjacent to a major intersection. Headed towards a crossroads, symbolic for where she is at in life. She has come to a point where she feels the urge to decide what direction to take, single-hood or marriage. However, against gender role Carrie maybe, likes the traditional gender roles she too being a female long for stability however when she gets it she tends to let it go as she is expects that something better will come. This does not connote someone who truly desires to marry. Commitment seeking people yearn for stability to the point where compromises are made to obtain it. Carrie does not want commitment unless it's perfect. Carrie feels stressed because she has an anxiety free relationship Carrie also says that women whine when they do not have a boyfriend and they whine when they do have a boyfriend. When contrasted, feminine over emotion is in contrast to the masculine emotionless; therefore, these examples reinforce American stereotypical notions of gender identity. By constantly confronting issues of conflict within the single lives of modern urban women in her column, Carrie relies on the experiences of her three unique friends to help her make career and personal decisions. She challenges cultural assumptions about women by resisting society's pressure to withhold her feelings about sex, men, and female liberation. In the process of being free to make her own decisions about men she conforms to cultural norms by falling in love with a man named Big. Her love and desire for this illusive man goes against much of the advice she writes about. She so much wants to become this man's wife, but as many women realize throughout their life, her ideal man doesn't want to settle down. Big deserts her over and over and leaves her for the young and beautiful foreign Natasha. She is able to move on and meets Aidan, who emphasizes the perfect eligible bachelor, but due to her love for Big she breaks off the engagement and is left alone. Carrie confirms assumptions concerning women's devotion for men, especially women who stay in violent and unbalanced relationships. Conclusion The show thanks its success by the openness about sex and discussing all day, everyday problems that many of us face. It's the mixture of Love, Sex, Drama and humor. Carrie is not the symbol of every woman's sexuality, or every married woman's sexuality or sexuality for women of every age. She does, nevertheless, break down the traditional stereotypes, like women do should not talk about sex. Women now have choices and possibilities that women before our time in history have never had. Carrie has broken through many cultural stereotypes about women's sexuality by asking the questions no one wanted to ask. In the first episode, Carrie asks herself whether it's possible for women to have sex like men, "without feeling." Thus it can be said that Carrie is a character in sex and the city due to who the entire series was worth while. Work cited Cordova Kristen; Sex and the City, The Observer Online 2004 p1 retrieved from http://media.www.ndsmcobserver.com/media/storage/paper660/news/2004/02/23/Scene/Sex-And.The.City-614835.shtml Parsons, Deborah L; Streetwalking the Metropolis: Women, the City, and Modernity Oxford University Press 2000 p1 Read More