Sex and the City

This week I have chose to blog about an episode of Sex and the City. In this episode the four main female characters worry about their “numbers” (meaning how many sexual partners they have had). During the episode, it is brought up that while men are praised and considers “studs” when they have a high number; women are frowned upon and considered promiscuous. While this is a somewhat old idea and has been heavily discussed it is still a strong message that says a lot as far as gender is concerned.

In this episode both men and women consider their “numbers.” Their reaction and sensitivity to the topic says a lot about their perception of it. For instance when the women talk about the “numbers” they are very reluctant to give an exact amount and try to be as vague as possible while talking about it. The men on the show that engage in these conversations though are very nonchalant and don’t appear to be uncomfortable like the women.

At one point during the episode a man and woman are talking to each other about the topic. The woman says “no, no I can’t; I have never told anyone my number before” and the man simply gives a rough estimate shrugging his shoulders when she seems surprised he doesn’t know the exact number. This scene was an excellent example of the difference between a man and a woman’s take on the idea. The woman are all worried about what it means about their characters and them as people while the men consider it for a few moments and then start thinking about something else without giving it a second thought.

Another example of how women are more sensitive than men about the topic of sex and multiple partners is evident in the reactions of other women to Samantha’s (one of the leading characters) numerous sexual partners. A few of the women who live in her building confront her about all of her overnight male guest and their disappointment is very obvious. This shows that even women themselves don’t accept that idea that it is okay for them to engage in the same sexual behavior that men do (or at least the same amount of it).

Keeping in tune with this idea, the episode also draws attention to the idea that while women don’t think it is okay for themselves to have many sexual partners they do accept and even expect men to be extremely sexually active. For example, when Carrie (the main character) has been seeing a man for about a week and has not slept with him yet she doesn’t understand what is wrong with him. When she tells her friends about it they immediate assume that he is gay or has “mommy issues.” If the situation were reversed, and the woman was the one who didn’t want to have sex the man would probably not have given it a second though. He certainly would not have assumed she has “issues”.