Summary of Feminism without Feminists

In the article Feminism without Feminists, the author, Linda Jin Kim, writes about the TV show, Sex and the City.  This show, which was later turned into a series of movies, is about single women who gather and discuss events from each of their lives.  Describing each of the four characters, the author notes that SATC has been “praised for its feminist elements” (Kim 2010).  But on the contrary, the show has also been critiqued for its “post-feminist messages” (Kim 2010).  Later on in the article, Kim further develops the idea of post-feminism, saying it is the idea that women are now able to choose from a plethora of opportunities in this present day.  Many believe this is not the case, and that women are not yet equal to men and do not have the same freedoms as they do.

But many others have often called the show innovative, due to the way the characters prioritize their friendship over boyfriends and husbands.  It was noted that many times each character actually chooses her own family structure based on her individual needs.  The show discusses controversial topics such as pregnancy and abortions, and the characters often give their own contrasting opinions.  While this is viewed as radical by some critics, viewers have responded positively to these discussions of “taboo” subjects. 

Kim changes the course of the article when she writes about the audience, onto whom the show is trying to push a consumer lifestyle to be emulated (Kim 2010). She then references another paper written by David Morley in 1986 about the viewing practices of men and women.  This paper highlights a key difference in how each sex views TV and TV shows.  Men would rather watch TV and remain uninterrupted, while women, who were home most of the day, preferred to have the TV on in the background combined with housework.

Following this discussion, Kim turns to the racial side of the TV field.  She brings up shows such as The Cosby Show, and how both black and white audiences loved it.  But even though it was revered by many, often the white audience “saw a black family,” instead of a “black family” suggesting that whites didn’t view racism as a problem in society.

She ends this segment of her paper by asking the reader a series of questions.  “What is the appeal of SATC?  How do fans feel about representations of race, class, gender, and sexuality on SATC?” (Kim 2010).  Kim notes that in the rest of her dissertation, she researches these questions in an attempt to discover how women who were “not affluent [or] white” viewed the SATC (Kim 2010).