Meeting of the minds By: Jami McGuigan

MEETING:

During our meeting this week we discussed the common themes that ran through the episodes we each analyzed. We also debated ideas for our final posts for next week, and decided how we are going to finish off the blog. After all of the meetings we have had, episodes we have watched, and choices we have collectively made to ensure the success of our blog, we have decided to write a reflection on this  experience as well as all of the episodes as a whole.

A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:

For another class I have been making a documentary about my father and his job. Last week, I was fortunate enough to be able to tag along on one of his business trips to New York City. While I was there I managed to do some extra research for this class and go on the Sex and the City tour!!! After watching all the seasons and visiting all the filming locations, I now really feel like an expert on the show! When I got home I shared the pictures with my group-mates.

Laura’s episode pertains to PROBLEMS WITH MEN

- Miranda and Carrie run into Steve and run the other way

- Carrie tries to be friends with Big only to find out that he is engaged to Natasha

- Charlotte tries to get back on the horse (literally) for the first time after a traumatic accident

- Samantha tries to have sex with a man with a penis that is too big

My episode pertains to WOMENS DESIRE FOR FANTASY/ RESCUE

- When Carrie misses the fairy and loses her shoe, Bill pulls up in a BMW to save her

- When Miranda has laser eye surgery, Steve comes to pick her up and take care of her against her wishes

- When a creepy guy is hitting on charlotte at the bar, a handsome man comes to her rescue by punching him to the ground

- Samantha enters a sexual relationship with a fire fighter

Jenny’s episode pertains to POLITICS

- Carrie is dating a politician who wants her to pee on him (bedroom politics)

- Samantha is dating a really short man who is great in bed (social politics)

- Miranda and Steve decide to be exclusive. (relationship politics)

Faryn’s episode pertains to WOMEN FEELING SELF CONSCIOUS/ INADEQUATE IN COMPARISON TO OTHER WOMEN

- Charlotte gets depressed when reading the New York Times wedding announcements

- Carrie spends a fortune on an outfit to outshine Natasha

- Magda makes Miranda feel guilty for having sex toys and for not being a stereotypical woman

- Samantha is insulted when a massage therapist named Kevin performs oral sex on the other Ladies and not her

- Charlotte feels self conscious of her body in the female health spa

THOUGHTS ON THESE THEMES

Overall, these themes raise a lot of issues in terms of women’s thoughts, whether it is comparing themselves to other women, having issues with men, or relying on men to rescue them, the women of Sex and the City negatively present themselves in these four consecutive episodes. When analyzing these themes, it is evident that these women are not the strong, capable, sure of themselves people they claim to be. 

Attack of the 5-foot-10 Woman By: Faryn Wegler

The Rush to Marry (An Anti-Feminist View) vs. The Importance of Career (Feminist Attitude)
•    At Sunday brunch, the ladies flip through the latest New York Times wedding section and Charlotte says, “This is so depressing. The oldest woman on this page is 27.” The entire goal of dating according to Charlotte is to land a husband, and being single past a certain age is considered taboo. Miranda comments, “Now I’m depressed and I haven’t even had my coffee yet,” and Carrie reminds her, “at least you have a boyfriend.” In this scene the women take an anti-feminist stance in their views on marriage. They see getting married as a “race” and feel and immense amount of pressure to beat other women to the finish line.

•    When Charlotte reads about a 24 year old bride who quits her job once she gets engaged, Miranda sarcastically adds, “that’s so retro…I’ve got a rock on my finger now I can stop pretending to care about my career.” Samantha adds, “Until recently the bride had a life of her own.” The anti-feminist attitude the women displayed a few minutes before is counteracted by their disbelief over an unknown woman’s choice to quit her job. Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha, are all high-powered career women, and have a feminist attitude when it comes to career success.

Women Judging Other Women
Although the show mostly focuses on how women perceive (and believe they are perceived) by men, this particular episode emphasizes the attention women pay to judging one another. Women worrying how other women perceive them can be considered a form of anti-feminism. Instead of empowering one another, women allow their insecurities to get the best of them.

•    Carrie: After seeing a picture of Big and his new wife Natasha in the wedding section of the New York Times, Carrie becomes extremely insecure. When she finds out Natasha will be attending the “Women of the Arts” luncheon, Carrie buys an expensive outfit to impress her. Natasha does not even end up showing, and Carrie feels even more insecure than before. After receiving a thank you note in which Natasha misspells a word, Carrie feels validation that Natasha may not be better than her after all, and calls her an “idiot”

•    Miranda: Miranda hires a housekeeper who disapproves of her lifestyle. Miranda tells Carrie, “I hate when she’s home when I’m home because I should be cleaning or making pies. She says that’s what women do.”

•    Charlotte: Charlotte is insecure at the spa about taking off her towel. Carrie tells her, “sweetie, who cares how you look to other women” (which is a contradiction since she cares how she appears to Natasha.)

Politically Erect By: Jennifer Marie Stranges

SYNOPSIS: Carrie is continuing to date the politican Bill, but things go awry when he has an odd bedroom request. Miranda evaluates whether Steve is the guy for her when he asks her to be exclusive. Samantha is dating a very short man and Charlotte throws a "One Woman's (Man) Trash is another Woman's Treasure" party.


THEMATIC PARALLELISM: POLITICS

• Carrie: Bedroom politics with Mr. Politician
• Miranda: Relationship politics with Steve
• Samantha: Social politics with the short man

Is this episode of Sex and the City (HBO) feminist? Well, like most episodes of the series, it's a bit feminist and bit not. Here are some reasons examples:

YES:

• Carrie's refusal to pee on her Politican boyfriend
• Steve wanting to be exclusive with Miranda

NO:

• The way the women discuss politics makes them seem stupid
• "I don't believe in the democratic party or the republican party, I just believe in parties." - Samantha
• Charlotte's interest with politics comes from wanting to settle down with a rich man

As discussed in class, typically women's TV is a melodrama or has elements of it. This episode of SATC is melodramatic in the following ways:

• the use of music: during Charlotte's "bring a man you're not interested in" party, Cheryl Crow's song Some Change Will Do You Good plays
• the use of emotion: Miranda finally gives into Steve when after making love, he tells her he loves her
• exaggeration: Charlotte's desperation for a man in the form of her party

"Where There's Smoke" By: Jami McGuigan

MY THOUGHTS

Out of all episodes I have watched thus far, this episode definitely presents the most anti-feminist forms of thinking yet! With this show I have also noticed a pattern. In several episodes, the story manages to present intense anti-feminist ways of thinking, and then (kind of) corrects itself only to quickly retreat back. For example, in this episode, Charlotte makes the statement “Women just really want to be rescued” (the anti-feminist thinking), which follows up with Miranda wanting to get home from her eye surgery without the help of Steve (the correction). In the end, Steve ends up showing up to help Miranda and she loves him for doing so (canceling out the correction).

RESCUE/FANTASY

While the women in this episode claim they want to be independent and not reliant on a man, they manage to be dependent and reliant on men in the end…

- When Carrie misses the fairy and loses her shoe, Bill pulls up in a BMW to save her

- When Miranda has laser eye surgery, Steve comes to pick her up and take care of her against her wishes

- When a creepy guy is hitting on charlotte at the bar, a handsome man comes to her rescue by punching him to the ground

- Samantha enters a sexual relationship with a fire fighter

INTERESTING QUOTES

Yet again, these women contradict themselves by saying they are independent yet their lives revolve around finding a man...

Carrie: “With no man in sight, I decided to save my ankles from a life of boredom and max out my credit card with too many pairs of Jimmy Choo Shoes”

Miranda: “Well this is good, we’re actually crossing water to meet men”

Charlotte: “Women really just want to be rescued"

Charlotte: “you know what… I’m going to meet the perfect guy and I’m going to get married… you hear that new York I’m getting married this year!”

Carrie: “I got to thinking about fairytales: what if prince charming had never shown up? Would Snow White have slept in that glass coffin forever? Or would she have eventually woke up, spit out the apple, gotten a job, a health care package, and a baby from her local neighborhood sperm bank? I couldn’t help but wonder, inside every confident, single, driven woman, is there a delicate fragile, princess just waiting to be saved? Was Charlotte right? Do women just want to be rescued?
Charlotte: “I’ve been dating since I was 15, I’m exhausted, where is he?!” 

"Ex and the City" By: Laura Daniel

Aired: October 3, 1999

Summary

Miranda and Carrie run into Steve on the street and run away. Steve later call Miranda on running away from him in the street and let's her know "what a shitty thing that was." It hurts Miranda to think that she hurt him. Charlotte struggles with an old love for a horse she had when she was 13 named Taddie. On a jog in Central Park Charlotte comes across horses and decides to try riding again. Samantha takes on a man with a penis that is too big for her and can't handle it. Carrie, after her and Miranda's run in with Steve decided to make amends with Big and his new relationship. Carrie thought she could handle it until she went out for lunch and he told her that he was engaged to Natasha (the idiot stick figure - as Carrie refers to her as). By the end of the episode Carrie is able to at least handle the news of the engagement.

My Thoughts

Breaking up with someone is one of the hardest things that a person has to do. For people who have never actually broken up with someone don't understand the hurt that happens and the feelings of loneliness that a break- up deals with.
Forgiving an ex is usually even harder than the break-up. You have to realize one thing... when you forgive the ex you are forgiving the break-up as well, and when the ex has moved on it makes it even harder.
Women in general have a harder time with accepting a break up than men. We get attached to things faster, especially men and even more attached if the relationship involves sexual endeavors.

Today in Class

Today in class we were discussing the important idea of HBO being a women's network. The conclusion was not clear however, we did think (or some people thought) that HBO tailors their shows towards women because they are the primary watcher during the day. Finding shows that appeal to both men and women may be difficult but HBO has managed to make shows that do just this. Mad Men, Big Love, The Sopranos, ets. While Sex and the City is still geared toward women the other mellow-dramatic shows of HBO prove to us that they are trying to appeal to both sexes.

How Are We Watching? By: Jami McGuigan

After watching every episode from the Sex and the City series, and both the movies I have now come to realize that audiences ARE reading the text in the way that it is asking to be read; at the same time, audiences ARE NOT reading the text in the way it is asking to be read which is a good thing. 

While watching various episodes, I caught myself a number of times falling into the trance of the amazing shoes, clothes, and “girly” things that are presented, and sometimes failed to realize all the anti-feminist aspects of the show. On the other hand, I also regularly clued into how women were being negatively represented in some instances where that was not necessarily the producer’s intent. There are so many different aspects of Sex and the City that sometimes it is easier to watch the show the way the producers want us to. Sometimes it can be comforting to let lose and live in these girls shoes if only for a while, but if you actually listen to what is going on in most episodes there are a lot of underlying issues.

Some people watch this show, fall in love with the characters and their lives and want to be just like them. Some people also watch the show and realize the problems with these women’s lives and understand that women deserve to be treated better than they often are. Charlotte is portrayed as a stereotypical woman who is not independent, and only wants to be a good housewife and live the “expected” life that a woman should. The producers want us to see how lucky she is for finding love, a family, and ultimately “success”. I have to admit that I often watched the show thinking wow, she has it all with her beautiful home, designer clothes, and family. I had to remind myself at times that she represents almost everything that feminist movements are against. Charlotte definitely portrays herself in a female role that is frowned upon in today’s society.

Throughout the course of this show women are often treated as lesser than a man, dominated by a man, and at the beck and call of a man, as exemplified through Carrie and Big’s relationship. At the same time, the female characters in this show can at times be very independent, career driven, ambitious, and confident. Unfortunately, it is almost as if the two opposite roles that women represent cancel each other out. Because women are represented as both stereotypical and non-stereotypical it is easy to watch the show and not think of the consequences that its ideas are creating.

Not all women’s lives revolve around finding a man, fitting into the perfect pair of shoes or getting married, however this show makes women’s values seem this way. Producers of Sex and the City want their viewers to watch the show for the fashion, and the fantasy of living an upper class New York lifestyle. They also want viewers to realize all the potential the show has for influencing women to be career driven, successful, and independent. Although many people do watch the show for these aspects, I also think that viewers also read into the deeper meanings that surround the themes that are presented. 


RED = How the show is asking to be watched
PURPLE = Additional things viewers are seeing when watching 

Meeting of the Minds, Nov 24 By: Jennifer Marie Stranges

This week our group discussed the issue of race in Sex and the City. To be more correct, we discussed the lack of race in Sex and the City.

The brand fails to recognize the diversity of races in a city that prides itself on being home to several cultures. Furthermore, all of the main characters are white upper class females, portraying a poor representation of female diversity.

We noted that although particular episodes deal with the issue of race, the series as a whole does not. For example, the episode with Samantha and her new black boyfriend shows how his sister is not comfortable with her brother dating a white woman. She says it's a "black thing". A more naturalized version of race is shown when Miranda begins to date her black neighbor. Although this is a good start for the series to begin incorporating race, the series either devotes one single episode to it in order to "get it out of the way", or naturalizes it in a way that does not get to the heart of the issue.

In the films that came after the series finale, a black character has a significant role. Jennifer Hudson plays Louise, Carrie's new assistant. Although it's great that the brand has begun to have a more realistic and diverse cast, it is curious to think of the implications that come from positioning the black character in an "assistant" role to the dominant while major character.