Sex and the City, Moments that Define Carrie Bradshaw

Sex and the City; We are Real People
Carrie Falls in front on the runway, but picks herself up and keeps going. Metaphor for life. Real people pick themselves up and keep on going.



Sex and the City; "Did I really love Big?
Carrie and Big say farewell when he moves to Paris. She moves on and decides that she can no longer take the pain and questions her love to Big.



Sex and the City The Four Soul Mates
The ladies decide they don't need men to fulfill themselves, and choose their friends as soul mates and save the men for a nice time out on the town.








Sex and the City Urban Shoe Myth
- This directly relates to the Carrie Bradshaw syndrome, where the new generations, specifically women are able to achiever 30 pairs of shoes before they can save 30, 000 dollars. Link for the article is below




Sex and the City Tribute
Tribute to the Ladies and greatest moments through the series.

The Carrie Bradshaw Look

The many styles of Ms. Carrie Bradshaw....... Style Icon

Group Presentation

My Experience......

My mother always repeated what my grandmother had said to her, and said if you do not have anything nice to say, keep it to yourself. Well I am not my mother, and had she dealt with what I went through she may have changed her mind. I have never been in a group in all the years as an undergraduate or a post grad and had this experience before. With the exception of two other hard working ladies. I heard from no one. Communication was non-existent, no matter how many emails were sent out. Group assignments were given out by people who did not even bother to reply to anyone. Yes it was a crazy semester, and having 8 women try and get together to organize a project should have been possible. The one meeting we were suppose to have was can canceled about 20 minutes before I arrived at the place. Yes Fires were burning less than 2 miles from my house and my windshield was covered in ash, but I got in my car with my paper mask and found a way to get towards Encino, where I received a voice mail saying the group meeting was canceled due to poor air quality. Keep in mind the meeting was inside. The group project was nothing more than us working individually and standing as a collective in front of the class. The tension was as thick as brie cheese. Fortunately enough, things worked out, though the presentation was extremely long. I was assingned Carrie, and the men she dated. That is what I was allowed to speak of, though I tried to include her fashion and the idea that she was more complicated than the rest because of her ties to the city. Carrie was not just a fashion Icon, but a symbol for change amoung the female gender. She spoke of sex, her opinion, and changedthe culture to allow those ideas to be discussed. Her characterized "raunch ideal" changed America and allowed us to be open about our sexualities. Chris Barker states on page 313 of his text, "(Raunch )observes that women identifying within this 'culture' speak of their rights to objectify sexuality like a man, inculding looking at and enacting pornography. They reject the idea that women should behave as victims and clain the right to do whatever they want to their bodies and to look how they wish.....Rather they are entitled to rejoice in their own sexuality and to act on it in just as assertice and even predatory a way as men." His idea of raunch culture as postfeminine part-time allows the idea for it to be okay for a woman to accept her sexuality, and with this approval, others were able to feel allowed to follow ship. Carrie and the Sex and the City show broke through stereotypes and became accepted and loved by all who watched the show.

The Radical Romance

http://www.hbo.com/city/

The Radical Romance: The Carrie Bradshaw Look

http://www.financial-planning.com/asset/article/526495/we-need-talk.html

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=523221

http://yogademia.blogspot.com/2008/06/carrie-bradshaw-syndrome-and-mad-money.html

Carrie Bradshaw

The Love, The Fashion and of Course The Sex




The main character from Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw was loosely based off creator Candace Bushnell. Bushnell wrote the original column for the same name. Her subjects spoke of sexuality and of what it was like to be a woman during a time when the glass ceiling prevented women from succeeding in a mans world. The Sex and the City column then shortly became a book, which landed Bushnell a opportunity to turn her experiences into a show on HBO. The four female characters Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha each symbolically represent a specific type of female stereotype and classification. Though the three other character stay true to their stereotypes Carrie the main character is a a collaboration of all three and is said to be like every woman. Carrie falls in and out of love, and has an obsession with shoes that she can not afford. She writes about her experiences and uses her heart as basis for material.

Carrie is an important part of Style, because her wardrobe on the show has created a
phenomenon. New York, is one of the fashion capitals of the world and millions of viewers tuned in to not only take a sneak peak into the four friends single lives, but also to see what outrageous fashion trend Ms. Bradshaw would invent. Most talked about fashion moments include the Carrie Necklace, the Engagement ring necklace, the over sized flower as brooch, the stripped shirt. The Shoes, shoes, shoes, shoes. The bags, accessories, and of course as of lately the floral dresses. Carries style as that with the other women has been none the less outrageous, but also has made a statement of her individuality. Has she like the rest of the culture fallen victim to what the fashion moguls decided what will be popular. Did she have a Minolo Blankis obsession due to the fact that they are labeled as high class shoes or is she a fan of the art of what they represent.


Carrie is not only known just for her fashion sense and her sexual experiences, but also for her relationships. Her relationships define Carrie more than anything else. The most prominent character Mr. Big, which she ends up marrying in a very Romantic comedy genre movie, causes her the most turmoil through the ten year period she had dated him. Back and forth dating, affairs, marriages and moving to different states and country's could not keep them apart. In between Carrie and Mr. Big, she dated others who also made Carrie realize who she really was. Three other who became famous in their own rights, were Aiden, Alesander Petrovski, and Berger. Sweet Lovable Aiden took Carrie back after she cheated on him with Mr. Big. He loved her deeply, but tried to change her. Trying to take the New York out of Carrie, and be something she was not made her feel restless and confused. Though she gave up smoking and contact with Big, Carrie ultimately realized that she was not the one for Aiden, and they parted ways the second time around. After Aiden there was the infamous Berger who cowardly broke up with her on a Post it, and invariably became famous for his lack of courtesy and human decency.

Alesander Petrovski the last man before the end of the season whisked a confused Carrie off to Paris, only to abandon her and force her to change into a dependent woman she could never be. Her mistake of running off to be with him and re-arrange her entire life made her realize how much of a New Yorker she was. Mr. Big like New York could be the only man she could truly love, because in fact. Mr. Big represented all things New York. Big was the mysteriously successful, famous persona that the City represented, and though she had a tumultuous and difficult relationship she knew she wouldn't have it any other way.

Review of Chapter 11; “Digital Media and Culture”

According to Barker 97% of the non-western world is unconnected to the net for reasons relating to lack of financial capabilities, accessibility or the basic knowledge of its existence. For those who are aware and have access, the cybers-world has created a space for many to not only become consumers but also agents of a mass form of knowledge, whether educational to our interests or for our basic entertainment. He states that; the digital universe is overflowing with information. Optimists hail this as a wondrous expansion of human knowledge. This underpins a Utopian vision of the Internet as a space where we can educate ourselves and pursue our own interests and pastimes. In this view cyberspace is a dominion of playful identity constructions where anything is possible.” This directly relates to the current generation of youth where many have taken an active role in creating cyber personas and acting through them in order to create better lifestyles for themselves either through education or through building connections that reward them with benefits. One such example of the Internet as a place where anything can happen is Youtube. The website where anyone can post a homemade video allows the world to view pieces of ones life at a moment’s access. This allows for either instant attention or humiliation. Many have taken the Internet to their advantage and used it as a means of launching their entertainment careers. The Web has invariably created the ability for bands and actors to promote their talents and personalities without the need of an agent. Many entertainers have used the internet to promote their own marketability and used the tools of the web to gain a profit. Therefore the internet be seen as tool of consumption and not only for educational purposes. Now the current culture depends heavily on the internet for instant information, creating the need to know what is happening anywhere at any given time. Google even allows for one to digitally see the satellite pictures of any given street in any given place. This prompts the idea that our identities are no longer our own, especially when we create personas on the internet that can be looked up and viewed whenever and by whoever has access.

Easy Come Easy Go and Spacial Relationship

In the Sex and the City episode, "Easy come, Easy go," the idea of spacial relativity and its social role in relationships is seen through every seen. The show's setting takes place in Manhattan, New York, and thus uses the cities main attractions, restaurants and nightlife culture to its advantage. In two of the scenes when the four female characters, Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda are all conversing their usual "girl talk" they do so in their normal cafe, each speaking freely and openly about their relationships with men, and things going on with their lives. In this aspect the four are all equal. In Chris Barker's, Cultural Studies text, he states; "Space is a social construct... Space is implicated in questions of power and symbolism, that is the power- geometry of space." (Pg.367) According to Barker then the relationships each of the women have with each other and with the men in their lives is based on the space and the social setting they are in.
In the Bedroom Samantha comes to a compromise over specific actions her partner Adam wants to take part in, Miranda feels awkward because her ex-boyfriend is still sleeping on her couch, Carrie is unable to concentrate because her steady boyfriend is redoing her apartment, and Charlotte is distressed over where and how Trey has agreed to marry her. While all these things are happening their relationships are affected based on the space they are occupying. Each setting and place affects how the character reacts. In the final scenes when Carrie is unable to concentrate and forced to spend the night in a hotel, she is confronted by her Ex Mr. Big. It is then at that hotel where she tells him off, because he is trying to infringe on her relationship with her current boyfriend, and it is also where Big passionately confronts her in an enclosed elevator. Miranda is left feeling depressed over the fact that her ex who needed her help in the first place to find a place is now ready to move on. Miranda finds it ironic that a man in New York can have a crappy job and no place but still be a catch, while the female who has a great job and has a place has issues.
In each scene the setting sets the tone how each character will act, or react. When Trey stops Charlotte and tells her they should stop and find her the most beautiful ring in Tiffany's, she decides to change her proposal story to him proposing in front of Tiffany's and then picking out her ring. Through each of the scenes the four women are able to interact with different people based on where they are. Big is only able to kiss Carrie because they are not in either of their houses where their mates are. They are only able to have an affair because they are alone. Their space and surrounding affect their actions and behavior.

Raunch Culture, The Neo-Traditional, and the 40 Year Old Virgin

Of recent times, when one goes to the movies the younger generation has flocked to see movies that have a high amount of shock value. Today's idea of gross humor and shocking themes is considered to be raunch culture. Chris Barker states that; " Raunch culture advocates sexual provocativeness and promiscuousness by women as women. It liberally employs references to pornography and celebrates sexual objectification and physicality." (Pg. 312) Movies like Wedding Crashers, The 40 year old Virgin and Knocked Up, created a pathway for movies to continue to push the shock waves. Un-rated versions have begun to appear, as well as gross humor that express to younger generations, most of which are in high school that that type of behavior is acceptable. And while movies like Super Bad and Sarah Marshal and Borat show explicit moments of profanity the 40 year old Virgin is not really completly classified as raunch culture. In fact with the theme, Andy and his virginity ideals has paved the way for it to be considered a Neo-traditional movie. Yes there are moments of gross hilarity, especially with a transvestite hooker and a "do it yourself" scene in the bathtub. But other than the overall ideal of male promiscuity Andy decides not to loose it to any random woman but to one he truly loves. He not only waits until he is after 40, but also chooses to get married before having sex for the first time. This neo-traditional ideal is something the raunch culture has not seen much of, but with time what was once a thing of the past can become a bricolage and become new again.