"Sex and the City"

For the "Sex and the City" presentation, I was responsible for generating Chapter 12 Barker questions and Samantha archetype/character trait questions. We decided as a group to all read and discuss Chapter 10 and Butler's piece as well, and incorporated all three subject matters together. My Samantha questions focused on her fierce personality and pointed out how she is also dedicated to her friends. I also took the Samantha group (although they were really characterized by our quiz as Carrie) and tried to facilitate their mini-discussions. I bought the cups and umbrellas for our apple-tinis and Cosmopolitans.

My questions were:

Barker defines postmodernism as: (a) cultural style marked by intertextuality, irony, pastiche, genre blurring and bricolage (the rearrangement and juxtaposition of previously unconnected signifying objects to produce new meanings in fresh contexts); in what ways does "Sex and the City" fit this definition? How does it differ?

Barker discusses place and space. Place is the socially constructed site marked by emotional investment, whereas space is dynamic and based on social constructions constituted in and through social relations of power. Consider this: "Attempts by some women to 'reclaim the night' are essentially spatial practices" (Barker, 377). What do you think this means? How do the women of "Sex and the City" fit into this?

How does the culture of "Sex and the City" influence the show? If it were set in another city, would the show have been as much of a success? Why or why not? (See Barker, 386) How does this TV setting affect its fans?

Samantha is s a sexual tigress, with a nonchalant attitude toward love and relationships, but who eventually falls in love and commits to a relationship. Is her symbolism of powerful feminine sexuality portrayed well throughout the show? How has this influenced women in our modern culture?

Samantha has been quoted saying, “I will wear whatever and blow whomever I want as long as I can breathe and kneel.” But she is also loyal to her friends, outspoken, confident, a survivor of breast cancer, and quite successful in business. How would you define her character archetype?