In this essay I will critically consider the extent to which Sex and the City (1998-2004) influenced public opinion on the representation of type. Sex and the City was a trendy, award-winning television show created by American producer, director and writer Darren Star and produced by the cable company HBO. I will take a close look at how the writers portrayed the roles of men and women through the show's characters and how this had an effect on the targeted audience of women aged 21 and over. The media can have a great impact on our lives in many ways; within it are gendered images portrayed with a representation that we all, as an audience, try to keep up with in our lives. The arguments will examine whether the characters have been exploited for a certain representation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The romantic comedy-drama that first aired in 1998, was a show featuring four main female characters with ambitions, independence, and successful jobs. The way they are so open about their sex life and dating "which seems insignificant now but was really groundbreaking then." (Guru-Murthy, 2010) is powerful. It's something that changed the way women felt about talking to their friends, suddenly it wasn't a men's issue anymore but now involved both genders. Nowadays women talk openly about sex and it is something they should be proud of and not ashamed of, this is exactly what Sex and the City aimed to attract female attention. The difficult situations conveyed on the show made it a “cultural phenomenon because women could relate to the characters” (Sotonoff, 2004). We see the show tackle many challenging women's issues, yet the characters express their feelings and we see their strength. and power through those moments to overcome them. The topics of single motherhood, abortion, homosexuality and cancer are burning issues that many women go through. Having a show that talks about these complications makes female and male audiences understand more about how they can deal with them or how to confidently talk about concerns, this is one of the first modern shows to do that. We can see the influence of Sex and the City through "the unity between the character and the audience" (InfoRefure): there is a relationship of agreement between the two, both genders can happily watch the show and say "I'm in past". It is essential that a show has an influence on the audience, it can make the viewer think or speak in a distinctive way. Additionally, Sex and the City made women feel comfortable with themselves and other people to talk about sexual encounters. , experiences and males without being judged and/or scolded for useless chatter. «It was the first time you saw swollen breasts on TV. I think it's great that women now feel comfortable talking about vibrators" (Akass, 2004). Mothers around the world have been inspired by the fact that there is no shame in breastfeeding in public after having saw Miranda, one of the main characters, breastfeed her baby, openly in front of people. It made women feel confident in their own skin, which was not how the media portrayed women before. as soon as gave birth. Time magazine had a cover of the four main characters from Sex and the City in 2000 and the headline reads 'Who Needs a Husband?' (Times, 2000) This encompasses the whole visionabout single life and comforts women by telling them that they don't need a husband around them just because they've reached a certain age. Highlighting the fact that women can be much more powerful and selfish; women should focus on career and life rather than obsessing over finding a husband. 'Thirty-something characters take pride in being educated and successful, and importantly have achieved that status completely on their own, it allows women everywhere to relate.' (InfoRefuge) On many occasions we see the main characters have self-confidence regarding how they have succeeded in their careers throughout the show. This only proves to women that the ability to succeed has no limits and does not depend on men, even when men are above their job position. The media associates men with achievements and achievements and women with housework and children, to this day women are proving to the media and the world that all these claims are wrong. Sex and the City offers men and women an example of what a work environment should be like; even. In season 2, episode 5, Mirada invests in purchasing her large apartment. She gets angry, 'I have money, I have a great job, and I still get, is it just you?' (Hobbes, 1999) we then see the rest of the girls continue to tell her that people are "threatened" by her job because she is more successful than most men and women. This shows our audience that people are more comfortable seeing a man be a dominant gender than a woman. Viewers can now see how wrong it seems compared to when the show aired and people were just realizing the impact of gender representation the show had. Watching this episode made women wonder why a woman should be questioned about her results and not a man, this is an eye-opener for all female viewers. In conclusion, both genders were somehow targeted on the show in a positive way. It has had an impact on what genders can do, we see the independence of women and the courage that mothers have. There is a large audience that will relate to many of the topics and find the answers in the questions they have. Sex and The City was seen as a concern with gender stereotypes; Many feminist views state that if people looked into the hidden messages they would find many gender stereotypical comments. Many say that "...the role of men is the only being that holds the key to achieving a sense of completeness and happiness in a woman's life." (InfoRefuge) The meaning behind this is that women without male attention or help do not experience complete satisfaction in their lives. For the characters of Sex in the City the status of "single" is torn apart in many episodes about how to find "marriage material guy", which personally goes against the independent, strong, leading women they portray themselves to be. This hypocritical view from the public can only confuse how women should behave. Do they find someone special and marry them or are they independent and don't mind being single? This brings us to the episode I mentioned before, season 2, episode 5, where everyone is so supportive of Miranda buying a house and then gets a comment from Charlotte “Everyone needs a man. That's why I rent. If you own and he continues to rent, then the power structure is completely destroyed. This is a misrepresentation; on the one hand we have the argument about how successful Miranda is and, on the other hand, the argument about how successful you are when you are.