My Thoughts on SATC Body Stuff as a 32-Year-Old, First-Time Viewer
"Why is it that we can see our friends perfectly, but when it comes to ourselves, no matter how hard we look, do we ever see ourselves clearly?" - Carrie, Sex and The City
I’m very happy to share that as a 32-year-old woman, I am *finally* watching Sex and The City for the first time in my life. My friends have been telling me to watch it for years now, and I feel like I’ve truly been missing our on a HUGE part of coming to age as a woman in her 20s and 30s.
While I’m not here to rip the show apart for its clear lack of diversity (from a race, size, and ability standpoint), I do have some general thoughts on how certain body topics were portrayed at a time where females were not yet represented this way in mainstream media.
Spoiler Alert: If you pulled a me and haven’t seen SATC yet, be weary while reading as there may be some spoilers.
The Food
I’ve started noticing what these women are eating. I’m currently in S4, and in an episode I was watching last night, Charlotte was delivered a plate of sliced tomato at the diner and Samantha literally only ordered hot water with lemon. It was refreshing to see Carrie eating a BLT with fries, but still.
In another episode, Miranda had a brief fixation on chocolate cake. She was portrayed as swapping sex for cake, and was shown throwing the chocolate cake into the trash can, grabbing a bite out of the trash can, and calling Carrie because she was so ashamed she couldn’t stop eating it, especially when it was in the trash can.
In another episode, Carrie was a runway model, and she was shown ordering hot water with lemon (like Samantha did in a previous episode) in the days prior to the runway show. No food; just water. I think I hate this one the most.
So now women watching this show are indirectly internalizing what these women are eating, how they’re discussing food, etc., and probably taking this same behavior on as their own. Who am I to say. Just my thoughts.
The Sex of It All
As I was watching the first season, I remember commenting to a girlfriend of mine who’d seen the series that I hope they’d touch on the reality of practicing safe sex. It seemed like the girlies were sleeping with so many people and condoms or birth control or STD testing wasn’t in the conversation… yet.
As I kept watching, I was pleased to see they hit on all of these topics - as well as normalizing abortions (Samantha and Carrie), whether or not to keep the baby (Miranda), and that some women just have a really hard time getting pregnant and look to turn to alternative routes like IVF or adoption (Charlotte).
The scene where Carrie lies to Aidan about never having had an abortion out of fear of being judged is so relatable to me as a woman. Though I’ve been in that exact position myself, I felt her motive to not be truthful with her partner. I think this is a very real position to be in as a woman - especially one who is a recovering people pleaser and truly deep down just wants to be loved. We’re scared of being judged and shamed by anyone, really, but specially our partners. When Carrie finally told him the truth, it felt like the perfect example of the power of being honest with the people we love most - because guess what? If they’re meant to be in our lives, they’ll accept our truths.
Non-Body Related Thoughts on The Reality
The reality is, at least in today’s society, these four women wouldn’t have enough time in their days to see each other as much as they do while maintaining a full-time job to support their lifestyle.
As I watch, it’s hard for me to not feel a pang of jealousy that they get to just be girls with their girlies 75% of the time. Not to mention watching how much these girls are going out and about and eating out and getting drinks night after night - they’re constantly doing fun activities together. Somehow they have enough time in the day to work their seemingly high-paying jobs, have what appears to be some alone time, have enough time to date in the manner they each do, and still have time to galavant around with their girlfriends. Not to mention each being able to own their own condos in New York City.
All in all, as a single woman in her thirties myself, I’m learning so much from these women and the situations they’re going through. Watching them live and grow and evolve has been powerful for me.
Despite a clear lack in bodily diversity amongst most characters (something I’m very passionate about seeing represented in the media I consume) coupled with the way certain groups of people were represented in the show at this time, in many ways this show was a groundbreaking representation of single women in their thirties in a time when the norm was settling down, getting married, and having kids. I’m so glad a TV show like this was produced when it was, at a time when women talking about very normal things (ie. sex and all of the things that come along with it, regular things women deal with on the daily, etc.) needed representation on national television.
xo
While I’m not a licensed therapist, registered dietician, or medical health professional and cannot speak to body image topics from a clinical, trauma-informed place, I am an expert of lived experience. I’m an academic of my own body, and I’m passionate about facilitating conversations with other humans about their relationships with their bodies. I believe it’s important to continue conversations about healthy body image in creative spaces as a means to heal individuals as well as the collective whole. But just know the information presented in this medium is not professional mental health advice or medical advice, and any questions or concerns you have should always be directed to your health providers.