S01.E05: REWATCH: The Power of Female Sex

[Bella]

 

 

"Where's the line between professional girlfriend, and just plain professional?" - Carrie

Carrie goes on a date with a gorgeous French architect who shows his thanks with a thousand dollars; a famous painter uses Charlotte as one of his models; Skipper becomes sexually obsessed with Miranda.

 

[Hanahope]

Ah yes, when exactly does it become "prostitution"?

 

Love (i.e. gag) that Carrie can just throw her bills in the garbage.  No wonder they cut up her credit card.

 

I swear, those shoes looked like some bedroom slippers I have.

 

Lol at Miranda wanting to "club" Skipper.  Skipper was just overwhelmed by any woman paying him attention for more than a week.

 

I can definitely see how that whole "Eurotrash" lifestyle can be tempting.

 

Part of me wondered how 'prudish' Charlotte would pose for the painting, but I suppose since it was anonymous and the paintings were fairly abstract, others would never know.

[Maherjunkie]

She actually threw her bills in the garbage?  I may have the wrong episode, but if you're starving, is the closest restaurant really that bad?

[Bella]

Carrie threw her bills in the garbage, she thought those bedroom slippers were for wearing to a club, she changed from her nightgown into street clothes while there was a man* in the room, and Charlotte let the artist paint her genitalia**.

 

The "don't you know who I am?" Samantha showed up in this episode. I don't care for that side of Sam, but over the years, it became a riff that was almost comical.

 

*A man who was sleeping with and crushing on one of her good friends. Yet she does the under-the-nightgown strip, walks in front of him wearing a skirt and bra, and continues dressing as they talk. I did not think this was cool.

 

**We do not use the n-word or the c-word here at PTV. There was a discussion amongst the mods and the site administrator that resulted in a reluctant allowance for actual quotes from actual shows, but some of us still don't like it. So even though the episode used the c-word and you could conceivably use it in a quote without getting in trouble, it would be better not to IMO. Thanks.

[Hanahope]

We do not use the n-word or the c-word here at PTV.

 

 

As I was typing my comment, I stopped to wonder if there was a non-offensive word for that part of the body.  I mean, for men the word "dick" might be taken offensively or might not, but "penis" isn't, it's the 'technical/official' name.  Yet I don't think there is a word that encompasses that entire part of a woman's genitalia that isn't usually used in an offensive manner.  You can say various pieces of the part without being offensive (labia, vagina, etc.), but other than the c-word, is there one word that covers everything?

[Inquisitionist]

Yet I don't think there is a word that encompasses that entire part of a woman's genitalia

 

Isn't genitalia itself that word?  True, some parts of female genitalia are internal, but in context, the term usually implies the external genitalia that can be seen on a naked body.

[Hanahope]

True, but "genitalia" is neutral, it can be used for both men and women.  There's no female specific term.

[Inquisitionist]

Is there a term for penis-plus-balls other than genitalia? 

[MadRat]

So my big question is: if you are so damn broke, why are you shopping at D&G? I mean, I’ve certainly indulged in retail therapy even when I was stretched thin but I’ve done it at like, Target. Pretty big difference between a $10 impulse purchase and a $400 one.

 

Skipper is adorable when Miranda opens the door at Carrie’s. Leaning against the frame, trying to look all debonair and then deflating when she says he’s early.

 

 she thought those bedroom slippers were for wearing to a club,

 

 

Did those fuzzy shoes remind anyone of the same ones Carrie wore on her date with Big before he moved to California? The ones Miranda broke her water all over? Okay, I just checked and they don't, but they DO look an awful lot like the shoes Samantha put her in for her book cover shoot (with the lingerie) and also like the ones she wore when she and Berger were trying to have not-terrible sex. How many pairs of fuzzy pink shoes does one person need?

 

A man who was sleeping with and crushing on one of her good friends. Yet she does the under-the-nightgown strip, walks in front of him wearing a skirt and bra, and continues dressing as they talk. I did not think this was cool.

 

 

 

This bothered me for a different reason that I have a hard time articulating. It's like Skipper barely even registers as a man on Carrie's radar. There is a David Sedaris essay where he describes what a bowtie says about you.  "Not that you're powerless, but that you're impotent. People offer to take you home not because you're sexy, but because you're sexless, a neutered cat in need of a good stiff cuddle." That's how I feel like Carrie sees Skipper.

 

 

 

 

 

[Bella]

^^I think you're on to something. To be truthful, I almost see Skipper as sexless, though more like a probable late-bloomer who is still in the larval stages.

 

But Carrie's behavior makes me think of basic manners more than modesty. She's so self-centered that if a man doesn't register with her as a potential date, relationship, or lay, he doesn't register at all. She treats him like a non-person. Granted, she has her moments in the course of the series, but she rarely stops to think about the impact of her behavior on others, or how her actions might look through other eyes. 

 

Also, flipping this around, I do not want to sit on my best friend's bed while her husband changes from his bedclothes into jeans and a shirt in front of me. And it doesn't matter if we're both talking about how much we care about my friend or about her health or something else related to her. Not only would it squick me out, it's just plain rude! 

[Hanahope]

Is there a term for penis-plus-balls other than genitalia? 

Good point, I guess there isn't.

 

I'm trying to think if there's any man who's just a friend (or who is the boyfriend/husband of a good friend) who I could dress in front of, and I can't think of one.  I know Carrie has almost a studio-like apartment (no separation of 'living space' with 'bedroom space'), but she still could have dressed in privacy in the closet or bathroom.

[andromeda331]

Part of me wondered how 'prudish' Charlotte would pose for the painting, but I suppose since it was anonymous and the paintings were fairly abstract, others would never know.

 

 

I didn't think it would be something Charlotte would do. I mean this was the same girl who not too long before had trouble with her boyfriend's request but she would pose for a painting? Like with the boyfriend this was something I could see Charlotte turning down. Or worrying about her job and then turning it down. 

 

 

By the way Carrie, I love your new shoes. I had nearly an identical pair when I was seven.

[ShellSeeker]

I remember the first time I watched this I was scandalized by the "c" word being thrown around with such abandon, although I did laugh when the artist's wife said, "I bet you have a beautiful [bleep], dear," while holding a tray of lemonade and cookies. 

 

Maybe I'm showing my inner bumpkin here, but I've never gotten the whole thing of trying to get into an exclusive restaurant, waiting and waiting and waiting, trying to get your name on a list, and so on. Sure it would be fun to go to the hottest place in town, but there are restaurants everywhere, especially in a place like NYC. If that hostess chick was that rude to me, I'd laugh in her face and leave. I certainly wouldn't sit around spending more money at the bar.

 

I did love Miranda's line to Charlotte about suing the artist, saying it was the only proper way to exchange sex for money. Ha! And for some reason her delivery of the line, "Who is Amalita Amalfi character anyway?" always cracks me up.

 

It's interesting that Carrie acknowledged that she was pretty irresponsible and frivolous with her money in the first season, and then went into more and more denial about it, until it culminated in her throwing a tantrum because Charlotte didn't offer her a loan. Who could blame Charlotte?

[izabella]

Is there a term for penis-plus-balls other than genitalia? 

 

Package.  Junk. 

[LemonSoda]

I've always loved this episode because it made me laugh so much. I was always bummed Amalita never returned to the show. I hoped she would as she was heavily featured in the book/original columns. Maybe her character, and her character's constant use of sex clashed with Samantha? I don't know.

The tossing of her bills made me cringe. I know it's a fictional show but her constant level of irresponsibility always got on my nerves.

On an embarrassing personal note - I owned those shoes. I was 19 and thought I made the score of the year at Nordstrom Rack. Dolce & Gabbana shoes in my size for $30! I was so proud of them. Until my more fashionable Mother told me they looked like $10 Fredrick's of Hollywood bedroom slippers.

[AndySmith]

On the one hand, it does seem a little weird for Charlotte to pose for this painting, but I always saw season 1 Charlotte as being much less of a prude than the one we got post season 2.

[jordanpond]

Although I agree that Charlotte is the most conservative of the four, I didn't find any inconsistency in her willingness to pose nude, since she was doing so for the sake of art. I did find it odd, however, how freely the artist and his wife used the "c" word to describe genitalia.

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

On 7/8/2014 at 4:57 PM, Hanahope said:

 

As I was typing my comment, I stopped to wonder if there was a non-offensive word for that part of the body.  I mean, for men the word "dick" might be taken offensively or might not, but "penis" isn't, it's the 'technical/official' name.  Yet I don't think there is a word that encompasses that entire part of a woman's genitalia that isn't usually used in an offensive manner.  You can say various pieces of the part without being offensive (labia, vagina, etc.), but other than the c-word, is there one word that covers everything?

Vulva. Although I've always taken "c***" to solely reference the vagina. 

[bethster2000]

On 7/8/2014 at 9:31 AM, Hanahope said:

I can definitely see how that whole "Eurotrash" lifestyle can be tempting.

 

You only go around once in this life.  I say, enjoy yourself and don't give two fucks, if you can manage it!

On 7/11/2014 at 8:55 PM, ShellSeeker said:

Maybe I'm showing my inner bumpkin here, but I've never gotten the whole thing of trying to get into an exclusive restaurant, waiting and waiting and waiting, trying to get your name on a list, and so on. Sure it would be fun to go to the hottest place in town, but there are restaurants everywhere, especially in a place like NYC. If that hostess chick was that rude to me, I'd laugh in her face and leave. I certainly wouldn't sit around spending more money at the bar.

Seat me in the first twenty minutes, or I'm out of there.