How Carrie Bradshaw’s Flawed Anti-Hero Charm Spoke to a Generation of Independent Women

Debra Minoff and Susannah McCullough of Screenprism took a look the revolutionary series Sex and the City, which premiered in 1998 – 20 years ago. The show, which focused on a group of female friends as seen through the eyes of the narrator Carrie Bradshaw. At that time, Carrie was an unusual character – she was beautiful and had a great eye for fashion, but she was highly flawed as an individual. She was clumsy and messy. She had relationship issues, self-esteem issues and fidelity issues. Yet somehow these distinct shortcomings spoke to a generation of independent women who chose to see themselves walking in her extremely stylish but impractical Manolo Blahniks.

The most challenging and significant relationship involved it’s the one you have with yourself. All of these contradictions of the show are embodied in Carrie and that’s what makes her so maddening, inspiring and fascinating. Maybe some women aren’t meant to be tamed and so it’s only fitting that 20 years later we should raise a Cosmo to this trailblazing TV antihero, who opened up a whole new world of possibilities.