Let’s not sugarcoat this - Sex And The City's Carrie Bradshaw has had some poor moments. Pop culture’s favorite single gal fashionista could never really become the messiah for millennial women, because anyone watching the show in 2020 would find Carrie to be ridiculously irrelevant and even too dated.
The way Carrie pigeon-holed entire sexes, stereotyping women, went against the very ethos of her work as a journalist who gains relevance as a relationship expert. There are so many things about Carrie that would never even make the for network viewing in 2020. Let’s have a look at some of those moments:
She Could Never Survive Gig Economy
Carrie Bradshaw has given everyone unrealistic expectations about what a freelancer’s life looks like; it’s not all about brunch, fashion week and journaling at the end of the day. Even the most successful freelance writers have to keep hustling to score new gigs, pitch to several publications at once, network with fellow writers and editors, and subscribe to several weekly newsletters just to stay afloat financially.
Fans have noted how cavalier Carrie was about earning and have also expressed confusion as to how she could afford her couture-filled wardrobe and Manhattan apartment on a freelancer’s check.
When She Body-Shamed Samantha
The way SATC the movie handled Samantha’s eating disorders is quite problematic. Samantha tells her friends that she has an eating disorder which stems from personal anxieties surrounding her relationship with Smith. This also made her gain weight, making her self conscious. Instead of sympathizing with her or making her feel better herself, Carrie actually acts surprised as to how Samantha let herself go this far, in of weight gain. “How could you not realize it?” she asks Samantha. Today, this would be the very epitome of toxic friendship.
When She Was Somewhat Racist On The Phone
when Alexsander called Carrie on the phone and the first couple of times she hung up just because he had a strong accent? It was only after Alexsander introduced himself with his name that Carrie realized that he’s the celebrated Russian artist who Carrie was interested in.
After she realizes the faux pas, Carrie lies to Alexsander and tells him that the other person was her sister. The entire goof-up was actually very definitive of Carrie’s snobbish attitude towards anything that’s not strictly ‘Manhattan.’
When She Questioned Charlotte For Not Offering Her Money
Carrie is famously bad with her money so when she’s on the verge of losing her apartment and finds herself broke, no one is terribly surprised. Big offers to loan her some money and Miranda and Samantha offered to help her out as well.
But Charlotte stays noticeably silent, which is interesting because it’s common knowledge that she’s old money and is really well-off. Carrie actually storms into Charlotte’s apartment demanding to know why she didn’t offer any money to Carrie, which left fans really shocked because it’s totally entitled behavior.
When She Categorized Women Into Two Broad Types
For someone whose career depended on being a good observer of women and people in general, Carrie really was unbelievably bad at what she did. when Carrie and the girls pigeon-holed women into two boxes - the complicated girl with curly hair (aka Carrie) and the simple girl with straight hair (aka Big’s fiancee Natasha).
Not only is the entire construct really shallow, but the fact that Carrie would endorse the idea that women can either be complex or simple, is really dated. To make things worse, they reference 1973 rom-com The Way We Were, which obviously uses this sexist trope as a plot point.
Her Attitude Towards Therapy
Of all the cringe-worthy opinions this is by far the most toxic of Carrie’s judgements. After her break-up with Big, she wouldn’t stop obsessing over him; her friends were completely sick of this behavior and suggested she go to therapy.
Carrie subsequently revealed that she believes in solving her own problems, which is something that the show never depicted as problematic. Carrie also goes to explain that she doesn’t need therapy, but she needs new friends. It is really ignorant to equate friendship with professional therapy, and the fact that Carrie doesn’t realize that would land her in some trouble today, especially because she needed therapy more than anyone.
Carrie Was A Problematic Ex
It’s possible that Carrie was just as bad of an ex as Big. In fact, Big has always been upfront about his issues, and about his anxieties about commitment. But what makes Carrie the problematic ex was that she’d often strategize against him, or tear him down behind his back or even discuss obsessively about why he chooses the kind of women he does.
The way Carrie and the girls dealt with heartbreak is very clique-y, and they’d even use some high school tactics of bringing down the new girlfriend or making fun of an ex’s lifestyle.
Not A Very Effective Ally
The Gen-Z idea of allyship is something that has obviously helped women reclaim spaces and has forged better ways to engage with other genders as well. Bit this is something Carrie never really understood in its entirety, because her entire perspective on relationship had us vs them at its core.
It's something that fans get a taste of in the pilot episode of SATC, when Carrie stereotypes two genders while defining her column. Of course, the show premiered two decades ago, but Carrie’s way of labelling genders into distinct boxes really did not work in the show’s favor, and would never fly today.
Lacked Journalistic Depth
Think about how a well-executed relationship piece reads in 2020; it’s thoroughly researched, invokes the personal connect with the author, it is also contextual to the cultural landscape and of course, relevant to the relationship dynamics which exist today. Carrie’s columns, were more often than not, just fluff pieces which seldom offered any real perspective, and misled her readers way too often.
Fans have often noticed how Carrie never really went into any real research for her articles, or even made a connection to people who are not part of her fashion week or brunch circuit. A relationship specialist in 2020 would have very different priorities.
Can Be Extremely Judgemental
For a ‘sex-spert’ who has a popular relationship column on a leading city newspaper, Carrie can be awfully stuck-up and shamed Samantha when she found her getting intimate with a guy, considering how Samantha has always been a rock for Carrie, especially during a relationship crisis.
And Carrie has also judged women for many of their traits, and fans watching the show in 2020 have often commented that Carrie could be really old-fashioned for someone who’s professionally obliged to seek newer directions and perspectives in dating culture.