A Cardboard Baby and a Long-Stem Rose: Consumeristic Postfeminism in the Relationships of Women as Represented in Sex and the City
Abstract :
One program which functions as an effective example of this nuanced relationship is the HBO hit Sex and the City which aired from 1998 to 2004. This successful television program features four single, working women who have come to be some of the most prevalent characters in modern popular culture. On the outside, this appears to indicate a progression of - or, some might argue, progression from - feminism into postfeminism; it is an example of a rise in popularity of a program dedicated to showcasing the lives of four very different women, each of whom supports herself financially and seems to make her own decisions about her life and relationships. However, a deeper analysis reveals the shallow nature of these observations, and a consumeristic, flawed postfeminism instead becomes the dominant ideology of the program - particularly in the women’s search for happiness in their heterosexual relationships. The popularity of the program in pop culture, and especially the heralding of the lead character Carrie Bradshaw, is an indication of the attractiveness of consumeristic postfeminism to the program’s target audience.
