“I've been dating since I was 15. I'm exhausted! Where is he?” Sex and the City’s Charlotte York, played by Kristin Davis, is the most conservative and traditional of the four leading female characters. She is an eternal optimist when it comes to love throughout the entire series, and never gives up hope of finding her prince charming. Throughout all of her troubled relationships, she is always hopeful that the next man she meets could turn out to be “The One.” Even with her conservative personality, Charlotte has been known on occasion to surprise her more sexually adventurous friends with her actions. Charlotte symbolizes the more traditional female role, as her main focus is to become a wife mother. Once Charlotte gets engaged to her first husband Trey, she decides to quit her prestigious job at an art gallery in order to fulfill her womanly “housewife” duties. With a husband who is handsome, wealthy, and successful, Charlotte sees no need to pursue her own career aspirations. When her inability to have children irreparably damages her marriage, the fairytale Charlotte hoped for turns out to be a nightmare. After her divorce, Charlotte does not give up hope of finding true love, remarking, “Everyone knows you only get two great loves in your life.” Charlotte later marries her divorce attorney Harry, and converts to Judaism for him. She refuses to give up on her dream of being a mother, and adopts a daughter, Lily, from China. Much to her delight, Charlotte also eventually gets pregnant and gives birth to another daughter named Rose.
Charlotte’s emphasis on emotional love is frequently juxtaposed against the more vivacious sexuality of the other women. She presents a more old-fashioned attitude about relationships, and is highly focused on following the “rules” of love and dating. Charlotte does not believe in sleeping with men on the first date, and believes that it is a man’s job to pursue a woman. She often criticizes Samantha’s many sexual rendezvous, and when Miranda contemplates getting an abortion, she is appalled that she would even consider up the chance of motherhood. The rules for capturing Mr. Right have been used in other female-centered dramas such as Ally McBeal, and give an anti-feminist touch to the program. This helps to cancel out more feminist plot lines involving the other characters that represent a more progressive view of female sexuality. Unlike Charlotte, Carrie, Miranda and Samantha redefine what it means to be a “modern day woman”, in their more casual approach to sex and high career ambitions.
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