Kathleen, you have posed some great questions in your argument that Sex and the City glamorizes sex and encourages this behaviour. I personally have never watched an episode of Sex and the City for the fact that the commercials did not captivate me to watch it for the subject matter is unlike one I can relate to. I do believe the show does push the boundaries of women’s rights and may indeed promote healthy sexuality; however, the show does in fact encourage promiscuity and generally send a negative message to young viewers.
An example I can give of a television show which I watch daily and which I am well versed in is Two and a Half Men. The characters in the series are brothers Charlie and Alan Harper and Alan’s son, Jake Harper who live together in Charlie’s residence in Malibu. Charlie is a middle-age wealthy bachelor who in his spare time engages in promiscuity and alcohol. His relationships with women cannot be truthfully classified as such, but partakes in casual sex with women as he pleases. His livelihood is summarized as such: jingle-writing, alcohol, and women— not particularly in that order. Alan tries his best to conceal Charlie’s livelihood from his son, and fails to do so at times. Alan’s ex-wife does not approve of Jake’s spending time at Charlie’s house and calls him a terrible example to Jake. This series is absolutely hilarious, witty and is my favourite show on television, but it is indeed inappropriate to watch in the presence of my little brother, which is why I watch it in his absence. This series is definitely inappropriate and can indeed give the wrong kind of advice to the youth, however, it is a great show and I love it. Considering the fact that the subject matter is mainly about sexuality, it does in fact provide morals and lessons to the audience. This form of popular culture is as Dustin Kidd suggests an, “...effective means for defining and distributing the norms of society” (75).
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