From 1998 to 2004, Sex and the City became one of the most groundbreaking shows of its time and still is today. Sex and the City broke the mold of how women should act and how they should live their lives as single working women in New York City. Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte showcased their fabulous lives with many relationships, career choices, and fashionable outfits in tow, while they navigating through some questionable moments on the show. The ladies might’ve made some questionable dating choices on Sex and the City, but the most cringeworthy moments entailed a lot of the main cast getting slut-shamed.
Sure this show debuted in the late 1990s and into the 2000s, but now that fans look back on their favorite episodes over 15 years later, they might look at them differently in light of how powerful women’s rights are today. Sometimes shows just don’t age well and in this situation, Sex and the City could be considered when it comes to how the women lived their lives. So to quote Carrie’s most iconic tagline, “I couldn’t help but wonder, how come it seems that only the women in the show get slut-shamed?”
Season 4, Episode 3: When Miranda Goes After Carrie For Hanging Out With Big
At a morning gab session at the women’s’ favorite diner, Carrie breaks it to the girls that she and Big are hanging out as friends. Fans of the show know that Miranda doesn’t hold back when she has something on her mind, so when she hears this, her attitude turns south fast. When Carrie tries to justify her reasoning for hanging out with the famous ex, Miranda shuts her down and says it’s okay for Charlotte to hang out with her ex-husband, but it’s not for Carrie and Big.
Miranda doesn’t have faith in Carrie for resisting to take things further with Big, which makes the whole situation awkward and a mistake. Sure Big and Carrie could never really be friends, but what’s the harm in trying? Even though Miranda is one of the better characters in Sex and the City, she still was kind of in the wrong.
Season 3, Episode 3: When Magda Judged Miranda For Having A Certain Feminine Item
In “Attack of the Five-Foot-Ten Woman,” Miranda decides that she has little time to clean up around her apartment, so she hires a sweet older lady named Magda. While at first things seem to be going swimmingly, Miranda starts to notice things being moved and misplaced around her apartment. She tries to shrug it off, but when Magda decides to take a personal product out of Miranda’s nightstand and replace it with a small statue of the Virgin Mary, Miranda has had enough. In fact, it’s sad a well-educated woman like Miranda received so much flak in Sex and the City and this is one of those times she rightfully stands up for herself.
When Miranda confronts Magda, Magda replies that no man will have Miranda if they find that in her bedroom. Miranda stands up for herself and tells her this is how she lives her life, to which Magda realizes she was wrong.
Season 3, Episode 11: When Carrie Goes To Visit Big And A Man Mistakes Her For a Prostitute
At this point, Carrie is dating Aiden, Big is with Natasha, but Carrie and Big are romantically involved. They start meeting up at hotels, which a certain businessman notices. When Carrie is guiltily waiting for Big in the hotel lobby, the businessman comes up to Carrie and asks, “How much?”
Carrie is clearly embarrassed, and knows what she is doing is wrong, but how hard is it to realize that a woman might just be staying at the hotel and occasionally seeing a man? Sex and the City introduced some of the best romances on television at the time, and also the worst, because Big and Carrie shouldn’t have been together at the time.
Season 4, Episode 4: When Charlotte Says Samantha’s New Relationship Is Just To “Bug Them”
The night after Samantha introduces the girls to her new girlfriend Maria, Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda are impatiently waiting for Samantha to show up for breakfast the next morning. When Carrie brings up the fact that Samantha was a little hurt that they didn’t take her new relationship seriously, Charlotte quickly answers by saying, “Oh please, she isn’t having a relationship, she’s doing this to bug us.”
Sure Samantha has had a lot of flings, and very few long-term relationships, but who is Charlotte to judge her if she likes a woman? The comment is also a little homophobic considering she probably wouldn’t have said that if she were seeing a man. There’s a lot of things that are likable about Charlotte in Sex and the City, but this moment wasn’t one of them.
Season 5, Episode 4: When Carrie Nonchalantly Judged Samantha And The Mailman
Carrie has been given a book deal and hires Samantha to do her PR. When Carrie goes to Samantha’s office for a work lunch, she’s surprised to find Samantha and a mail courier guy in a compromising position. Carrie and Samantha brush it off until Carrie rudely brings it back up at their favorite diner. When Miranda asks Samantha a question about intimacy, Carrie barges into the conversation and says, “No she just signs the delivery slip and sends them on their way.”
After scoffing at the situation, Miranda makes a comment about Carrie seeing this happen on the street, which is again, a very rude comment to make. To top it off, when Samantha and Carrie go to a store for Carrie to try on outfits for her book cover, Carrie is shocked at the clothes picked out and called one of them a look of a “high-class hooker.” When she asks who would be caught dead in this, Samantha says she has it in red.
Season 2, Episode 7: When Charlotte’s Bridesmaid Dress Was Called Out
While the girls are at a joint friend’s wedding, Charlotte thinks she’s met the man of her dreams when she’s paired up with the best man, Martin Healy, to walk down the aisle with. After a night of clicking with Martin, Charlotte is asked to dance by his father.
All seems to be going well when Daddy Dearest cops a feel of Charlotte’s behind. When Charlotte tells Martin what happened, he shuts her down by getting upset and blames it on her choice of a “slutty dress.” As if that was the reason his father decided to feel her up. Eye roll. Charlotte was one, if not the most level-headed person on Sex and the City, and all she wanted was to find love. This is definitely a moment she didn’t deserve.
Season 4, Episode 4: When Charlotte Thinks Samantha Ran Out Of Men
On a night out, Samantha decides to tell the girls that she’s in a relationship with a woman named Maria. Of course, the three ladies are shocked, and after leaving the bar, Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda are gossiping about what they just found out.
Leave it to Charlotte to bash Samantha’s relationship choices by chaulking Samantha’s interest in women because she’s “ran out of men” in New York. What’s just as bad is that Carrie or Miranda don’t stick up for Samantha and continue joking instead. Samantha Jones seemed to have it all on Sex and the City, but it seems like at times, her friends made her the butt of the joke because she had a different lifestyle than them.
Season 3, Episode 6: When Samantha’s Neighbors Judged Her
After an older woman was held up at gunpoint, the residents are trying to track down a man that entered the building at a late hour. Samantha realizes it was her guest that showed up, and the other residents realize it was her that let him in. Throughout the episode, she’s approached by a woman who accuses her of having too many male guests over at all hours.
Then at the end of the episode, Samantha walks into the lobby of her building while other residents are gossiping about her. When she asks them what their problem is, the older woman who got attacked earlier said it was Samantha’s fault she couldn’t see out of her eye. Technically it was Sam that let the man in, but being approached like that is a little overboard after she already feels guilty.
Season 3, Episode 18: When Carrie Describes The Transgender Community
In “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda,” there not only was the topic of sex workers, but also the transgender community. When Samantha moves to the Meatpacking District, she complains about a group of supposed transgender sex workers that make noise at all hours of the night.
During one of Carrie’s writing sessions, through narration, she describes these encounters as “Samantha’s friendly neighborhood pre-op transsexual hookers; half-man, half-woman, totally annoying.” Not only does this slam sex workers, but also offends the transgender community. Ouch!
Season 2, Episode 15: When Samantha Slept With Charlotte’s Brother
When Charlotte and her brother Wesley meeting Carrie at a trendy bar, Charlotte purposely doesn’t invite Samantha. Charlotte’s judgmental fear is that she’ll end up hitting on her brother, so she’s shocked when Samantha shows up with Carrie. Charlotte wasn’t wrong about Samantha hitting on her brother and ends up going home with him that night. It’s how Charlotte handles the situation is where the awkwardness comes in.
After Charlotte walks into her kitchen the next morning and sees Samantha half-naked, she asks her if she’s in “The New York City Guide Books.” Charlotte then proceeds to tell her that she’s always available for men, which is just a step too far. Friends don’t judge friends like that and viewers could tell it hurt Sam’s feelings.
