Member-only story
#MeToo and the City
In And Just Like That… Carrie Bradshaw tries to reckon with new sexual horizons. But can Bradshaw and #MeToo really co-exist?
When Sex and the City (SATC) debuted in June of 1998, the United States was in the midst of a national sex scandal: the Clinton-Lewinsky story had broken earlier that year, Bill Clinton was a few months from the grand jury testimony where he admitted to an “improper physical relationship” with Lewinsky, and sex was inarguably the most important story of the year. The show, telling the stories of four thirty-something gals trying to find love in New York, soon became a sensation, transforming HBO into a channel that tackles adult topics with frankness and humor.
According to Julie Salamon, the show’s allure has always “relied on the juxtaposition of frivolity with serious concerns” where the four heroines experiment, fail and succeed with sex, love and relationships. SATC indeed provocatively dealt with issues around modern (white, middle class, urban) womanhood: abortion (“Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda”, season 4, episode 11), women’s choice to work (“Time and Punishment”, season 4, episode 7), sexual satisfaction and orgasms (“They Shoot Single People, Don’t They?”, season 2, episode 4), motherhood (too many to count), ageism (“Twenty-Something Girls vs. Thirty-Something Women”…
