Author Candace Bushnell
“Sex and the City” was not a feminist role model
Candace Bushnell (left) with “Sex and the City” star Kim Cattrall.
© imago / ZUMA Press
Candace Bushnell wrote the template for “Sex and the City”. Today she also sees the series critically from a feminist perspective.
When “Sex and the City” premiered on US television in 1998, the series was viewed by many as revolutionary. After all, professionally successful, independent women were not a matter of course on TV. But Candace Bushnell (62), on whose columns the series is based, does not see “Sex and the City” from today’s perspective as exemplary feminist, like the author in one Interview with the “New York Post” explained.
Candace Bushnell started writing for the New York Observer in 1994 about the life of New York single women in their 30s, based on their lives and that of their friends. In 1997 the columns appeared in book form under the title “Sex and the City”.
“Men are not necessarily the best economic choice for women”
Bushnell likes the series, which has moved further and further away from the original over the course of the seasons, to this day. “It’s a great show, it’s really funny,” she told the New York Post. But she is irritated by the many fans who are all too uncritically based on the model of Carrie Bradshaw and Co. After all, Carrie’s search for Mr. Right – or, in her case, Mr. Big – should also be viewed critically.
“The reality is that looking for a man in the long run may not be the best economic decision. Men can be very dangerous for women in many ways,” she said in an interview. Women who make themselves financially dependent on a man would ultimately have to limit themselves. She concludes: “The show and its message is not ultimately very feminist”.
Joy of the spin-off of “Sex and the City”
Candace Bushnell will definitely watch the “Sex and the City” spin-off “And Just Like That …”. Even if her close friend Kim Cattrall (65), who played in the cult series Samantha, will not be there. Carrie actress Sarah Jessica Parker (56), Kristin Davis (56) and Cynthia Nixon (55) will slip back into their “SATC” roles from December 2022, as will Chris Noth (66) alias Mr. Big.
Bushnell, who will soon be in New York with a theatrical adaptation of her new book “Is There Still Sex in the City?” will appear, wishes the offshoot every success: “Hopefully it will run six seasons. I’ll get a little money for it,” she said with a laugh to the New York Post.