The Dating “Rules”
In the episode Drama Queens, Charlotte presses on in her mission to be married by year's end. At lunch she shows the ladies a new book she has purchased, entitled, Book called “Marriage Incorporated: How to Apply Successful Business Strategies to Finding a Husband”. She then says she is going to befriend her married friends husbands in order to get to know their bachelor friends. Charlotte’s belief in following certain dating “rules” is common amongst many modern day women who want to get married; we even saw the appearance of a similar book in the Ally McBeal episode (“The Kiss”) we viewed at the beginning of the semester called “All The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right”. Similar to Ally, Charlotte too has faith that following a guideline of rules could potentially help women land the perfect husband. Being professional businesswomen, both Charlotte and Ally believe that they should approach finding a mate with the same dedication and organization they bring to their careers. This demonstrates the pressure women over the age of thirty often feel to “settle down” and conform to the traditional societal gender roles of being a wife and mother.
Women Complaining About Men
Miranda wonders if her relationship with Steve is becoming too comfortable when she finds "skid marks" in his underwear. She tells Carrie, “We whine when we don’t have a boyfriend and we whine when we do.” Women complaining about the lack of a man in their life or problems with the man they are dating have been seen in practically every episode of SATC we have viewed so far. Despite being a successful lawyer, Miranda too is preoccupied with finding a man, or talking about her boyfriend’s imperfections. The progressive, feminist attitude the women display in their careers is undermined by their constant obsession with talking about men.
Gender Role Reversal
Three weeks into her relationship with Aidan, Carrie begins to freak because everything seems so perfect. When Aidan asks Carrie to meet his parents, she can't deal and finds herself saying no. Carrie realizes that in her relationship with Aidan, she's been behaving like Big, and he's been acting like the sensitive and available guy she always wanted Big to be. The fact that Carrie believes she is behaving like the “man” in the relationship (in that she is anxious to take big steps such as meeting the parents) demonstrates a sort of gender reversal amongst her and Aiden. This can be considered a progressive representation of women in that Carrie has the option of choosing whether or not she is “ready” to take the next step in her relationship. Unlike most episodes where the women are constantly pressuring their men to commit, this episode highlights Carrie’s modern-age womanly independence that permits her to decide whether or not the relationship is “right” for her.
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