Sex and the City: A Postfeminist Point of View? Or How Popular Culture Functions as a Channel for Feminist Discourse

Abstract

The existing literature concerning post feminism shows a diversity of ideas among scholars; a polarization between opponents and supporters becomes salient. By rearticulating post feminism as a fundament of third-wave feminism and situating it within the context of the 21st century (Genz, 333-353), we endeavor a more revisited vision on the representation of post feminism in popular culture. Post feminism is a new form of empowerment, adjusted to the contemporary societal context. It focuses on agency, freedom, sexual pleasure, consumer culture, fashion, hybridism, humor, and a renewed focus on the female body. In popular media texts, the fiction series Sex and the City is often considered a signboard of post feminist discourse. In this article, we analyze the representation of post feminism in Sex and the City. Using an in-depth thematic film analysis, we analyzed whether and how post feminist themes are presented in the series.