Is Sex and the City woke?
TV Show · 1998
Sex and the City has a wokeness score of 1/10, which we rate as Not Woke. No political or woke messaging whatsoever. Focuses entirely on story, characters, fun, or escapism.
Key points
- Pre-woke series prioritizes unapologetic storytelling, humor, and glamour over progressive indoctrination.
- Lacks racial diversity, features stereotypes of color, offends modern sensibilities without moralizing.
- Celebrates postfeminist individualism via characters' promiscuity, consumerism, careerism, traditionalism sans agenda.
Wokeness analysis
Sex and the City, which aired from 1998 to 2004, stands as a prime example of pre-woke entertainment that prioritized unapologetic storytelling, character-driven humor, and escapist glamour over any form of progressive indoctrination. The series follows four affluent white women navigating love, sex, and friendships in New York City, with zero emphasis on political messaging, diversity quotas, or representation of marginalized groups. Critiques from modern perspectives highlight its lack of racial diversity—described as 'as white as it gets'—and stereotypical portrayals, such as service workers of color or fetishized interracial encounters that reinforce rather than challenge norms. Far from activist lecturing, the show offends contemporary sensibilities by casually stereotyping based on gender, sexuality, culture, and religion, as noted in analyses like 'Times Sex and the City Was Not Woke.' It revels in postfeminist individualism: Samantha's promiscuity, Carrie's consumerism, Miranda's careerism, and Charlotte's traditionalism are explored without moralizing or balancing with ideological counterpoints. Social commentary, when present, is light and organic—touching on STDs, dating woes, or female autonomy—but serves the plot's fun, not domination by agenda. Conservative viewers appreciate its focus on personal freedoms without forced inclusion, contrasting sharply with the reboot And Just Like That, derided as a 'woke-fest' for shoehorning BLM, MeToo, nonbinary arcs, and token diversity. The original's entertainment value reigns supreme, alienating no one with preachiness; it's pure escapism into high fashion, cosmos, and candid sex talk. This aligns with audiences exhausted by today's media, where every narrative bends to serve ideology. By 1990s standards, it broke taboos on female sexuality organically, not didactically, earning its status as cultural phenomenon without wokeness.
Plot
Sex and the City chronicles the lives of four stylish, upper-class women in their 30s and 40s—Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), a sex columnist; Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), a bold PR executive; Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), a cynical lawyer; and Charlotte York (Kristin Davis), an art dealer seeking romance. Voiced-over by Carrie's weekly columns, the HBO series delves into their romantic entanglements, sexual escapades, friendships, and career hurdles amid New York's vibrant social scene. Spanning six seasons, it captures dating disasters, marriages, divorces, and self-discovery, punctuated by lavish brunches, shopping sprees, and Cosmopolitan cocktails. Iconic relationships like Carrie's on-off with Mr. Big drive the narrative, blending sharp wit, explicit dialogue, and fashion-forward escapism that redefined portrayals of single urban women.
Analyzed by AI on February 13, 2026