Sex And The Societally-Grouping-City

SEX AND THE SOCIETALLY-GROUPING-CITY

One of the most widely effective agents of socialization is the media, television in particular. Television programming is an instrument that has the growing power to effect people, with increasing exposure, and exposure to younger and younger audiences, the media has an increasingly big impact on an individual's socialization (pg. 94). Socialization is important in human development. It is also important for the formation of a sense of self and to define the components of social structure to witch one belongs. Social status, social roles, social groups, and social institutions are these components. By classifying oneself within a status and group, and defining what roles should be played and how they should be played, an individual develops a idea of appropriate behavior.

Sex and the City, HBO's hit comedy, is a show about four friends living in New York City. Carrie Bradshaw, a sex columnist, writes narratively about the lives they lead and the loves they share in the city. Miranda Hobbs, a successful attorney, uses wit and cynicism to help her take a practical approach to love. Charlotte York, an art dealer from uptown, idealistically dreams of the perfect life with the perfect well-bred man. Samantha Jones, a public relations executive, embraces her uninhibited sexuality with bold confidence reflected in everything that she does.

This controversial show, with it's blunt humor and hush-hush topic has been raising flags ever since it aired in 1998; But it has also has been noted for the flipped stereotypes and role-reversals of the main characters, as well as being praised for the show's tendency to remark on taboo social affairs. Is art a reflection of society or is art an instruction for society. This formation of ideals and molding of newly defined roles is just an example of how the media has been changing, and society has been changing with it.

Although the four main characters fall primarily in "normative" groups, the traits of these groups are portrayed and the roles of the characters reflect (sometimes not traditionally) how that role should behave.

According to the Weberian Model of the U.S. Class Structure (pg. 255), Miranda would be considered Upper-Middle Class, being an educated attorney, with a high salary. Marxian class structure would define her as part of the Managerial Class (pg. 260), because she has influence over the organization of work. In episode number 39, "Easy Come, Easy Go", Miranda is transitioning from a break-up with her live-in boyfriend, with whom she awkwardly attempts to remain friends. She helps him look for a new apartment and feels bad for him when a place he can afford to rent looks like "the gateway to hell". She confesses her guilt to her friends, but after listening to another woman's date invitation to him on her answering machine, she feels regret for the hasty separation. Signs of her classification can be seen in the tailored suits that she wears, and her apartment on the Upper West Side, especially in this episode when it is contrasted to the apartment that she looks at. When she talks, it is clever, practical, and blunt, with a sharp authoritative tone, even when discussing sentimental issues. This representation can be seen as a stereotypical portrayal of a member of the upper-middle class.

Belonging to the most privileged class, Charlotte is White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, although not specifically mentioned in this episode. She has been dating her perfect man for a short period of time and with her romanticized ideas of love boasts how real they're love is. She meets his mother for the first time in this episode, and learns a trick to how she can manipulate him. She tests the theory and suggests that they get engaged, and he unromantically replies "alrighty". Charlotte is distraught over the unromantic engagement, but is again excited when outside Tiffany's he suggests going inside and buying her a beautiful ring. The portrayal