It should be noted at the outset of this post that I've seen very little of any Sex and the City episode and about 20 minutes of the first movie. That being said, with Sex and the City 2 recently hitting theaters, I have a few questions and musings that maybe you readers can clear up. The overarching one is this: is the show really the bastion of liberal 21st century women it's been cracked up to be, or the exact opposite?
My understanding of the show is, generally, that Carrie Bradshaw, writer and somewhat socialite, is followed (along with her pals) through relationships with men and shoes. Carrie and her merry gang are seen falling for the wrong guys, dropping the rights ones, dealing with all the relationship messes everyone deals with and, eventually, falling into place when they're ready. The conventional critique is that, by turning the tide on the old way of doing things- where a man had all the power in a relationship and slept around as he pleased- Sex and the City portrayed empowered women who decided when and how a relationship moved ahead and wouldn't be tied down to a man until it was the right one.
Now, I'm all for women having an equal hand to men when it comes to relationships- certainly that's the healthiest (and most modern) way to do things. But I always saw the show as something different. It seemed to me that the characters boiled women down to loving shoes, fashion and moving from guy to guy, never happy without a relationship (thus, never fulfilled without a man). Maybe I've missed things. Maybe really deep discussions were had (I know one of the characters battled cancer) to prove that these women were intelligent, thoughtful people. Maybe they could do without men just fine and were totally fulfilled by just being strong women. If that's the case, man did I get it wrong.
But with Sex and the City 2 being set in Abu Dhabi (read Wajahat Ali's important critique), my impression is that it's simply more of the same. I understand that at the end there's some allusion to an underground woman's culture that throws off oppressive Muslim-man rule, but that not only doesn't do the women justice, it certainly paints the Mid East with a pretty broad brush. Plenty of women in the Middle East wear western dress; some wear hijabs because they want to. Abu Dhabi is more than just opulent hotel rooms for white women and "exotic" flare.
As I said, maybe I haven't given Sex and the City nearly enough credit or time. There's a possibility that the show really does reflect some sort of 21st century equal-to-men woman. I just haven't gotten that impression. I've known some pretty impressive women in my life- women much smarter, tougher, thoughtful and caring than I- and if Sex and the City boils them all down to shoe-crazed boy-dreamers, I just don't see the attraction.
Now, I'm all for women having an equal hand to men when it comes to relationships- certainly that's the healthiest (and most modern) way to do things. But I always saw the show as something different. It seemed to me that the characters boiled women down to loving shoes, fashion and moving from guy to guy, never happy without a relationship (thus, never fulfilled without a man). Maybe I've missed things. Maybe really deep discussions were had (I know one of the characters battled cancer) to prove that these women were intelligent, thoughtful people. Maybe they could do without men just fine and were totally fulfilled by just being strong women. If that's the case, man did I get it wrong.
But with Sex and the City 2 being set in Abu Dhabi (read Wajahat Ali's important critique), my impression is that it's simply more of the same. I understand that at the end there's some allusion to an underground woman's culture that throws off oppressive Muslim-man rule, but that not only doesn't do the women justice, it certainly paints the Mid East with a pretty broad brush. Plenty of women in the Middle East wear western dress; some wear hijabs because they want to. Abu Dhabi is more than just opulent hotel rooms for white women and "exotic" flare.
As I said, maybe I haven't given Sex and the City nearly enough credit or time. There's a possibility that the show really does reflect some sort of 21st century equal-to-men woman. I just haven't gotten that impression. I've known some pretty impressive women in my life- women much smarter, tougher, thoughtful and caring than I- and if Sex and the City boils them all down to shoe-crazed boy-dreamers, I just don't see the attraction.
No comments:
Post a Comment