Reasons why SATC remains a feminist beacon in 2021

We all love a bit of girl power don't we? I've recently re-watched Sex and the City from the start and while a lot of it realllly hasn't aged well since its 1998 premiere (homophobic comments, biphobic comments, mild racism), the main aspect that shone through was the feminism in it. Not only is it still extremely relevant today, but the lessons it preaches were way ahead of its time as far I'm concerned. We are of course talking about the TV series here and not the movies; we all know they were trash.

Being whatever the hell kind of woman you want to be

Still in today's society, we women battle with expectations of us. Whether that's the kind of job that it's "acceptable" for a woman to have, the way that a woman should behave in order to be "ladylike" or how confident she's "allowed" to be. What SATC did so successfully is to create women who were multi-dimensional and self-aware (for the most part - looking at you Carrie). Yes, Miranda's main personality was being a fierce feminist lawyer, but she also loved trashy magazines and her TiVo box. And yes, Charlotte's main personality was being sweet as pie and craving the love-marriage-and-baby-carriage lifestyle, but she wasn't afraid to really tell people off when they got on her wrong side! These women showed us that we could be whoever and whatever we wanted to be.

Living a life free from the shackles of judgement

The women of SATC are all very confident and Samantha in particular shines through as someone who doesn't give a shit what anyone else thinks of her, and she doesn't concern herself with judging others either. Despite all 4 women being very different (to the point that women now assign themselves as one of them; I'm a Samantha), they all have a lot of love and acceptance for one another. Charlotte believes in one true love while Samantha believes in many great lovers, yet they never shout down the other's opinion or believe that one is right and the other is wrong. They just accept that we can each do what's right for us.

Putting women at the centre of discussions around sex

As far as I know, this show was the first major one to really do this. For the most part, female nudity in film and TV is used to entice a male audience; to position women as the object of a man's sexual desires. SATC totally flipped that on its head. All discussions about sex were from a female standpoint and it certainly didn't shy away from any topics. It covered everything from orgasms to female masturbation to "funky tasting spunk" and in doing so it created a generation of sexually liberated women. Women who learned what they wanted and weren't afraid to ask for it. Women who knew that sex could be about fun, or love, or both and that there was absolutely nothing wrong with talking about it. Obviously a lot of the sex positive ideas and themes were Samantha's forte, but that didn't stop some great storylines being thrown the other women's way like Miranda debating sex during pregnancy, and Charlotte getting addicted to her Rabbit.

Not conforming to societal norms

From birth, we as women are conditioned that we should want to grow up, get married and have lots of lovely babies. From Disney princess films to baby doll toys, it's pretty much the route that's bestowed upon us from the beginning. The main thing I love about SATC is that it shows that real life can go one of many ways. Maybe you'll be like Samantha; having a few great loves but ultimately never wanting marriage or children. Maybe you'll be like Carrie; wanting love and maybe even kids some day too but you're just not really sure. Maybe you'll be like Miranda; wanting to be an independent career woman who ends up having a child when you're not really ready, only for it to be one of the best things ever. Or maybe you'll be like Charlotte; desperately wanting marriage and kids but it doesn't go as smoothly as you hoped, with divorce, infertility and miscarriage to contend with. There were so many beautiful moments on each woman's journey about how life doesn't always go as you expect and that you don't always have to want what you think you should want. I particularly loved moments like Miranda shunning baby showers (even after becoming a mum) and choosing a non-white wedding dress, and Samantha helping to choose Carrie an engagement ring even though she doesn't believe in marriage herself.  I particularly think the difference in each woman's scenario is what made this show so great. If all 4 women had shunned the traditional route then it would risk painting the picture that that's what it means to be a feminist or a modern woman. Including characters like Charlotte plus having Miranda change her mind on children showed that feminism is about choosing the route you want, even if it's the classic one.

Female friendships being the most important relationship you can have

Okay so this message is the main message of the show and it's obviously the one that I love the most. The idea that female friendships are the most important part; finding One True Love is just an added bonus. Although I will deduct points for the fact that they kind of negated that message in the end by having every single woman end up with someone. Carrie ending up with Big will never be right for me. The show preached self love, confidence and knowing your worth. She should've ended up happily ever after with her 3 best friends.