Several years ago women were regularly overheard talking about which “Sex and the City” character they were most like. I could never decide, as I saw some of each of
them in myself. And while my blog writing has been compared to Carrie Bradshaw’s, I’m older than she. My musings are more like Carrie 15 years later, when she’s divorced from Big, no longer fits in her size 2 Versace gowns, has shelved her Manolo Blahniks because they pinch and finds it’s not as easy getting a guy to buy her Cosmopolitans at a trendy bar. (For the record, I never had any of the above — except the divorce.)
The other characters had obvious appeal as well: Charlotte’s perpetual romanticism, Miranda’s pragmatism and Samantha’s overt sexuality (we won’t call it sluttiness). And they all had (mostly) great clothes and fabulous shoes!
These women made the singles life seem so alluring. They sashayed in designer clothes for a night on the town. Handsome men flocked to flirt with them, buy them drinks and perhaps dinner. Maybe they had a fling with some of these hotties. Maybe they dated one for a while. Seldom did they give their heart to one.
Although we witnessed the ups and downs of their relationships, rarely was there much relationship trauma. When a man went “poof” — as Carrie’s boyfriend Berger did via a Post-It Note breakup — there was sadness. In fact, Carrie suffered more than the others after her breakups. With a few exceptions, most trysts ended with neither party seeing the other again, both vanishing in the City’s throbbing singles scene.
Now let’s examine women closer to our age: “Desperate Housewives.” Just like the gals from “Sex and the City,” each woman has her own approach to relationships. Again, I see some of myself in each of them. All but Lynette Scavo have been with at least one man on the show. They have less fabulous wardrobes (except Gabby’s), and fewer sexual partners (except for Edie), but they have some of the same issues about relationships that their slightly younger fictitious sisters do.
Do you notice a pattern in the archetypes these women portray? Even if we go back to “Golden Girls,” we see the patterns repeated. There is a loose one (Samantha, Edie, and Blanche), a pragmatic one (Miranda, Lynette, and Dorothy), and a “nice” one (Charlotte, Susan, and Rose). And a fourth — or fifth — to add a dimension not covered by the others.
Have you identified which archetype you relate to most? Or are you a combination of several? And what does this say about your dating style? Do you like who you’re being on dates, or would you like to mix things up a bit? Are you usually as controlled as Bree, but would like to add a little Samantha to the mix? Or are you down-to-earth like Susan, but would like to be spoiled Gabby-like more often?
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Comments
6 responses to “Which character exemplifies your dating style?”
Hi DG,
I just LOVE SATC, it was/is one of my favorite TV shows, (yes, I watch reruns, guilty as charged)…
I am a pragmatist first, foremost and always and can definitely relate best to Cynthia Nixon’s Miranda character; (I wish I had her good looks as well, but hey, a gal can’t have everything). 🙂
Best wishes from bookyone 🙂
I’m the overt sexual one, all the way. Sure, there are pragmatic and nice things about me, but ask anyone. The characteristic that stands out about me, is sexuality. So which person is Carrie?
SATC royally screwed up women, especially in Manhattan, in regards to dating. in real life, Carrie would be a psycho, Miranda a bitch, Charlotte the ideal girlfriend and Samantha a slut. period. Women tried to emulate them thinkign they could also magically turn their real lives in to fictional scripted ones, complete with the cute meet and deus ex machinae esolution.
I love watching “Sex and the City.” And I’ll admit that the show has made me romanticize the NYC singles scene. I spent last weekend in New York with my husband, and found myself thinking how fun it would be to go out on the town as a single gal, the way Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha did. I’m happily married, but “Sex and the City” does make the single life seem like a lot of fun — probably because, as you point out, “rarely was there much relationship trauma” on the show.
I like to think we have created some new categories, fabulous independent women that we are, and maybe the categories are beyond description. That we have survived marriage and divorce, support ourselves, think our lives are great and that men are just desserts, is something our mothers never knew!
Love to all, Ellen
http://www.wonderfulonlinewomen.blogspot.com
SATC is my favourite series ever, and although it makes single life long absolutely amazing, which is not always true, I believe deep down inside there is quite a lot of things we share with these women,
As for myself, I am definitely the eternal romantic haha it gets me in trouble most times, but hey! Wouldn’t change it for anything to be honest.