The Downfall of Carrie Bradshaw and the Uprising of Hannah Horvath: A Textual Analysis of Postfeminist Television
Summary
Sex and the City and Girls are TV shows considered postfeminist within academia and popular texts and their postfeminist tone is often grounds for its criticism from scholars and popular media authors. Whilst postfeminism is considered an anti-feminist concept arguing equality women has been achieved, many critics overlook the emergence of the concept when criticising how postfeminist narratives represent women’s issues within TV. Postfeminism encourages women to embrace freedom and self-manage their lives. However, postfeminism does not grant women with full freedom of choice within the constraints of neoliberalism. Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideal which emerged in the western world at the same time as postfeminism and many argue one cannot exist without the other, as postfeminism creates a space for women within a neoliberal society. Through a textual analysis, this study explores the postfeminist and neoliberalist characteristic, choice, through the scope of sexual assault within the TV shows Sex and the City and Girls. From the emergence of postfeminism in the 1980s and 90s until more recent times in the 21st century, possible changes in the representation of postfeminist characteristics can be identified in the TV show Girls when compared to its predecessor, Sex and the City.