I never had HBO, but thanks to DVDs, I was able to enjoy the trashy bliss of the TV show Sex And The City through six seasons and two feature films. Sex And The City was about four sexy single ladies on the prowl for the D and sometimes love around New York City in tbe late 90’s and early 2000’s. These cougars dominated the urban terrain in their mile-high Monolo Blahniks, their perfectly styled hair, outrageous designer outfits, and more outrageous personalities. What’s not to love?
The show was based on the 1997 Candace Bushnell book by the same name. When I saw Candace Bushnell was doing a discussion and signing for her new book, Is There Still Sex In The City?, at R.J. Julia Booksellers (a local independent book store in Madison, CT), I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet the author who created such colorful characters and made Cosmos the must-order drink for a generation.
At the sold out discussion, Candace said that Is There Still Sex In The City? is semi-autobiographical (hello, one of the characters is named Candace) with a posse of cohorts who are a melding pot of her real-life friends. Candace is the captain of this dramedy, navigating the waters of the middle-age to senior dating pool. The book is honestly eye-opening (who knew there’s a vaginal laser treatment that’s like Viagra for women?), enlightening (how the Tinder dating app works and disappoints), hopeful (re-appropriating the title of MILF to “cat nip” and attracting younger “cubs”), relatable (how the aging process effects a person’s psyche and societal value), and funny. I loved when Candace was entrapped and extorted by a Russian cosmetologist promising her a facial that was the key to the fountain of youth.
In this world we all have our perspectives skewed by our religion, gender, nationality, sexuality, and economic status. I will never know what it’s like to be an affluent, white, straight, middle-aged woman (mentally I see myself as Kristin Davis, a total Charlotte) but this book spoke to me. Candace writes that society tells “older men they’re a little bit better than they actually are while it tells women they’re a little bit worse.” In my gay opinion, that perspective needs to change and hopefully Candace’s voice will start the conversation.
