"Sociology of Sex and The City" Summary

      The first chapter of Linda Jin Kim's dissertation is titled, "The Sociology of Sex and the City," commonly referred to as SATC. Her paper discusses how SATC has been recognized for touching upon many modern feminist topics such as female sexuality, motherhood, and pregnancy. Her research focuses on what people watching the show take away from it, rather than the previous analyses done by expert sociologists and psychologists. However, she starts by summarizing the prior research done on the hit television show.
     This popular show, which follows the interconnected lives of four single white females living in Manhattan has received positive and negative reviews for its blunt nature. It has been praised for how it portrays strong independent women, unbreakable female friendships, and for its uncensored discussions of female sexuality. It does not show women as dainty, fragile and prude, but rather as sexual beings equal to men. Critics, such as Gerhard, suggest that SATC shows alternatives to marriage and relationships. He says that the family that these four girls have created with each other is relatable to the families that gay men and women have created for years now (Kim 8). It shows that you do not need to have the standard family to supported.
       The show also addresses the realities of motherhood and pregnancy, rather than the glorified expectation of the two major life changes. SATC character, Miranda, has an unplanned pregnancy, and even contemplates having an abortion. Although the show did use Charlotte, a character who is pro-life, to give contrast the controversial topic, it still was radical to float around that idea (Kim 9). Miranda, who is a driven attorney, expresses the hardships of pregnancy often overlooked by shows that try to make motherhood look like the best option for a woman. Another character, Samantha, decides that the married life is not for her, and the show uses her to represent female liberation and the fact that not every woman is born with maternal instinct. Samantha is also the origin of many of the risqué conversations the women have, some of which include topics of sex toys (Kim 10). 
     One of the main critiques of the show is that the women have the lives they have due to the privileges of their race and class. The cast of the show, although it has some homosexual and ethnic characters, does not represent these differences well. The four women only go after straight wealthy white men, for the most part. SATC has also been said to validate an outrageous consumer lifestyle, especially due to its Manhattan location (Kim 13). Linda Jim Kim states that not many scholars have researched how audiences react to SATC, and therefore her following chapters dive into how the general public, rather than experts, interpret this entertaining series.