“Some people do arts and crafts – we judge” says Carrie Bradshaw’s friend, Stanford Blatch in episode ‘Cover Girl’. The 1998 – 2004 TV show Sex and the City was perhaps progressive at the time in terms of the media’s depiction of female sexuality, however, in retrospective, the show was riddled with gross stereotyping of minority characters; problematic love interests; the characters rarely pass the Bechdel test; sexually predatory behaviour that was hardly drawn attention to; classist ideology, and culturally and racially insensitive language. Therefore, the show was both progressive and regressive.
Creators have clearly tried to make amends in the 2021 series ‘And Just Like That…’ which unfortunately lacks the charm (and success) of the original series. One of the – if not the main – reasons why it has failed is the absence of central character Kim Cattrall’s Samantha Jones. The core four include Samantha; Carrie; Miranda, and Charlotte. While it is clear none of the four protagonists are ultimately feminist in their ideology or morally ethical characters, Samantha is arguably the most likeable with her unapologetically independent, witty and sexually driven attitude. However, she is also the character that gets judged the most by her fellow girls. I will analyse why Samantha is often considered the best character of the show and how while she is stereotyped as a sex-crazed maneater, she is a woman who supports other women and an early pinnacle of female independence.
The Core Four constantly make jokes about their misfortunes at each other’s expense – nobody more so than at Samantha’s. Sarah Jessica Parker’s character Carrie Bradshaw is considered the main character of the show, with her narration and column pieces on sex, lifestyle and womanhood underpinning each episode. Much of her dialogue and narration is filled with self-absorption, internalised misogyny and cynicism. However, she is still regarded to be the hopeless romantic and as an audience, we are supposedly meant to root for her. But her judgement towards her supposedly best friend Samantha is difficult to watch.
As a sex columnist, it would be expected that Carrie would be more open-minded of Samantha’s fluid sexuality and promiscuity. In ‘Cover Girl’, Carrie’s slut-shaming of Samantha is cringe-worthy to watch. Samantha offers her public relations support to Carrie (for free), yet Carrie walks in on her in her office in a sexually compromising position. While Samantha later walks in on Stanford in a similar situation, she understands Carrie’s shock yet does not exhibit the same judgement. Carrie, on the other hand, is horrified by Samantha’s sexual expressions and declares “I would never do that”. The girls seem to find her open sexuality repulsive, highlighting how even a woman’s close friends can be responsible for causing deep-rooted insecurities surrounding important parts of life like sexual freedom and relationships.
Regardless, Samantha supports Carrie. In ‘The Real Me’, she ferociously supports Carrie in becoming a model for a charity fashion walk. Carrie asks Samantha to be honest about how she looks in the Dolce and Gabbana outfit to which Samantha gushes and declares she’s a real model. The constant support Samantha offers Carrie seems unfair considering the criticism she faces. While Carrie confesses to adultery, she asks Samantha if she’s judging to which Samantha says “not my style”. It’s scenes like this that warm audiences to Samantha and make us wish we all had a friend like her.
As a character, Samantha teaches viewers a wide range of life lessons. If we disregard a few unsavoury (and perhaps old-fashioned) scenes, Samantha exhibits some proto-modern-feminist qualities. 2024 feminism is referred to as “fourth-wave feminism”. This wave of feminism “began around 2012 and is characterized by a focus on the empowerment of women, the use of internet tools, and intersectionality. The fourth wave seeks greater gender equality by focusing on gendered norms and the marginalization of women in society” (‘Feminism: A Fourth Wave?’ by Ealasaid Munro, 2013).
While it would be anachronistic for Sex and the City to have focussed on themes of internet tools and intersectionality, Samantha is somewhat proto-feminist in the sense of being thematised by the empowerment of women and by expelling gender norms. She dismisses the idea that women should be stigmatised for expressing their sexuality. She proudly declares “I’m a try-sexual. I’ll try anything once”. While Sex and the City certainly does not have the healthiest or most positive representations of the LGBTQ+ community (employing offensive tropes, such as the ‘gay best friend’ like Stanford and Anthony, and a shockingly uneducated portrayal of transgenderism), Samantha is positively open in terms of sexuality.
She has a brief lesbian relationship with Maria – one of the earlier portrayals of sexual fluidity in TV shows – however her friends are dismissive of her newfound happiness. Their homophobic quips include the supposedly sweet girl-next-door Charlotte York stating that Samantha isn’t genuinely interested in her girlfriend but simply “ran out of men”. However, Samantha demands that they respect her relationship. She states that her friends won’t even ask a question about Maria, yet she makes the “obligatory phone call” asking the girls about their heterosexual relationships. Therefore, while Samantha and Maria’s relationship is frustratingly undeveloped, it proves Samantha to be a sex-positive character and the only positive representations of bisexuality in Sex and the City. Because of this, she is also one of the first representations of bisexuality in TV shows ever.
Her character exemplifies that women should be proud of their sexual expression and that while relationships can be important to women, they do not have to be the centres of their lives. Samantha only had three major relationships throughout the course of the show, including Richard, Maria and Smith. When her first love in the show, Richard, cheats on her she quickly leaves him. While she does take him back, she breaks up with him reciting her iconic line “I love you, but I love me more”. This feminist-ideologised line is once again repeated when she ends her more tender and loving relationship with Smith. While she and Smith have a positive relationship and she states he has “meant more to me than any man”, a key reason why she breaks up with him is because she is not the kind of woman “who sits home all day waiting for a man”. As the oldest character in the show, she defies the stereotype that when women age, they should settle down with a man. She is the least man-oriented character and proves that women can find their happily-ever-after without relying on a partner to do so. I believe this is the power behind Samantha’s character.
Overall, Sex and the City is never going to be considered the most progressive show compared to modern-day works. However, I am thankful to have followed Samantha through her sexually-fluid; accepting; supportive, and exciting New York-loving life. As an independent businesswoman, a cancer-survivor and a woman who confidently exits relationships when they are no longer serving her, Samantha is one of my favourite female characters from a TV show. I think – and hope – that she will forever remain a fan-favourite and I’m glad her legacy lives on and has not been decimated by the less popular ‘And Just Like That…’, however it was touching to witness her brief appearance and know that my favourite character lives on.