To understand
what Sex and the City says about women, it helps to understand what it says
about men. It's simple: men are dogs.
This is not
necessarily an insult. Sex (Produced by hbo, which is owned by Time's parent
company, Time Warner) likens even its finest men to man's best friend. Sex columnist
Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) meets her lover Aidan--a shaggy, happy-go-lucky
golden retriever of a guy--when his dog cheerfully buries his snout in her crotch.
Lawyer Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), cohabiting with scruffy bartender Steve, agrees
to buy a pooch with him, and it becomes a metaphor for their unworkable relationship.
Husband-hunting Charlotte (Kristin Davis) learns to control her new fiancé with
a hand on the wrist: Roll over, boy! Then there's Carrie's on-and-off-and-on
squeeze Mr. Big (Chris Noth), a sexy, powerful (and married) alpha wolf.
Dogs are adorable--in
theory. Take one in, though, and it can shed, stray, and worse. In its first
two seasons Sex became a pop-culture icon for its astute bedroom politics, for
the saucy Seinfeld banter (laced with corny double entendres) of its glam foursome,
but above all for recognizing that a woman can live well without being at either
end of a man's leash.
Its exceptional
third season, though, has complicated the arch social comedy by experimenting
with--gasp!--committed relationships. "What if Prince Charming had never shown
up?" Carrie asks. "Would Snow White have slept in that glass coffin forever?
Or would she have eventually woken up, spit out the apple, got a job, a health-care
package and a baby from her local neighborhood sperm bank?" Maybe. But in the
new series our heroines will consider another option: settling down with Prince
Almost-as-Charming. (All but Samantha--the deliciously vulpine Kim Cattrall--who
episode after bed-hopping episode takes Manhattan like, well, a man.)
It proves
these women's ability to cut deep that they've been called both "evil, emasculating
harpies" (USA Today) and male fantasies. Sex is fantasy, but not that kind.
The high-powered Sexettes can afford Manolo Blahnik shoes, Le Bernardin dinners
and swank Manhattan apartments. Their charmed circumstances would sweeten the
solo life for a man or a woman.
But their
conflicts are real and honest. Sex avoids p.c. feminism and love-conquers-all
romanticism. These over-30 women can read the New York Times wedding section--"the
single woman's sports pages"--with both envy and contempt for the 24-year-old
brides nabbing investment bankers and ditching their careers. It also avoids
pat sitcom solutions. When Miranda and Steve parted, he wasn't wackily written
off but instead left as he showed up--a decent guy who proved wrong for her.
Love--or lust--in
Sex is no '70s-style war between the sexes. It's a border negotiation over personal
space, customs and autonomy. It's an accomplishment that Sex holds out the possibility
of saying no to changing your life for a man. It is an equal one that it can
also imagine, just maybe, saying yes.
C
O V E R COVER: Why Marry
When You Can Stay Single?
Once, women who were still "on the shelf" at 35 resigned themselves
to a life of bleak solitude. For today's young women, staying single seems
not only bearable but increasingly desirable.
Mom
on her own: Deciding to have a child is one thing. Raising
one is another
A
S I A THE
PHILIPPINES: Web of Frustration
As one group of hostages nears freedom, a new hostage is taken
E
U R O P E FRANCE:
Jospin's Minefield
Protests and a walkout put the Prime Minister on the defensive
A
F RI C A SOUTH
AFRICA:
A Fistful of Troubles
President Thabo Mbeki discusses the continent's challenges
U
S A CAMPAIGN 2000:
Can Dubya Get Serious?
As Gore surges, Bush has to prove he can compete on the issues
S
PO R T ATHLETICS:
Meet Mrs. Jones
America's queen of track and field is ready for her close-up
T
H E A R T S BOOKS:
Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas spins his own version of the story of Bill
and Monica and Ken and Linda CINEMA:
Richard Corliss goes on a film bender in Toronto MUSIC:
Elastica ends a five-year silence with The Menace
