Was ‘Sex & The City’ Feminist? Cynthia Nixon Has Her Say

Sure, the outfits in Sex and the City were certifiably bonkers (not to mention totally unaffordable on the wages of a one-column-a-week writer) and the awesome foursome made some very questionable decisions about prioritising men over their girl friends. But unrealities, and occasional bad girl code aside, Sex and the City did some pretty solid work for quashing female stereotypes at the time. It also never shied away from putting the character's most intimate moments and 'secret single behaviour' on screen. Arguably SATC paved the way for more raw female-led shows for Millenials, like Girls.

When the show was released a whole 17 years ago people questioned whether the show could be described as feminist, and with its numerous re-runs - still do. And now in a recent talk, Cynthia Nixon, who played Miranda, has weighed in.

In a NeueHouse discussion with two major US magazine editors Nixon said "At the time that Sex and the City was out, there was a lot of very heated and interesting debate about the show and about whether the show was feminist or not," Nixon said. "To all of us making the show, there was no doubt that the show was feminist. But...people think that if women are wearing a certain type of clothing, particularly with high heels, that ipso facto they're not interested in anything else. And that's just not [true]."

She also discussed the fact that early on studios suggested the show was only appealing to female audiences. "Women are interested in war the way men are interested in war. And men are interested in domestic life the way women are interested in domestic life, you know?

"We shouldn't just think that because we're doing something on a domestic level that men aren't going to be interested. But also, by the way, there are enough of us that if they make a movie and only women come, it's important to remember: that's enough."

Nixon also gave her opinion on one reporters claims that Miranda was a "woman who wants it all" stereotype. "I was like, 'That could not be further from the truth,'" the actress said. "The thing that was really interesting about Miranda is that she never thought about 'having it all.' She only thought about her career, and the fact that she ended up as a mother and the fact that she ended up as a wife was just an accident, and a very kind of welcome accident."