12-year-old me was flabbergasted when she first saw Samantha Jones, the risque and unapologetic PR be herself on Sex And The City. At the time of its premiere, in 1998, this show held archaic ideals of society by its collar and dismissed falsehoods in one fell swoop. The show put women’s sexuality at the forefront, a moment in TV history. While Carrie may have been the ‘main character’ with her monologues and never-ending run ins with Big and Aidan, Samantha Jones was the one who singlehandedly carried the show on her back.
As the unofficial sexpert of every group that she’s a part of, I have Samantha to thank for bestowing me with the knowledge, and the positive perspective towards sex. Sex And The City would just be ‘And The City’. Considering how much I look up to her, I was pretty gutted when I found out she wouldn’t be making a comeback with And Just Like That. But, she will be making a brief appearance in the second season, and I couldn’t be more thrilled!
In light of this news, here’s looking back at all the times Samantha Jones preached the gospel of sex positivity and pushed us to be more liberated with our choices.
“I’m a try-sexual. I’ll try anything sexual once.”
Sex and Samantha Jones go hand in hand like Carrie Bradshaw and her famous Manolo Blahniks! While exploring and pushing the boundaries of pleasure may seem common now, it was met with glances of shame back then. Samantha never shied away from experimenting in the bedroom and her stories always validated people like me who are bold enough to express their sexual choices.
“Kegel exercises. I’m doing mine right now”
Out of everything Samantha Jones has convinced me to do, kegel exercises remain at the top of the list. An underrated form of exercise for your pelvic muscles, these are a great way to strengthen your muscles, improve bowel control and enhance sex too! Trust me, these have to be a part of your life.
“I will not be judged by you or society. I will wear whatever, and blow whomever I want, as long as I can breathe and kneel.”
Samantha was always unbothered about her sexual escapades, she did what she wanted, with whoever she wanted (consensually, of course!). But this attitude of Samantha’s wasn’t always well received by her own friends. Samantha sounded Carrie off when she made a scathing remark about Samantha choosing to hook up with a delivery boy. Very hypocritical of Carrie, being a sex columnist and all. Despite the judgement faced by her from one of her closest friends, Samantha chose to be unabashed about her sexual choice.
“My vagina waits for no man.”
While this conversation was a fun wordplay around vaginal weights, Samantha has always furthered the cause of female solo pleasure all throughout the show. Instead of relying on a man to make you feel good in the bedroom, taking matters into your own hands (pun intended) is the best decision one could make as a woman!
“I don’t have a baby, everybody, drink!”
Whether we’re talking about India or the West, a woman’s value is always reduced to a babymaking machine that spends her life focusing on procreation. So, when Samantha’s friends and family were throwing baby showers, she took it up a notch by throwing a fabulous ‘I don’t have a baby shower’— far ahead of her time, I know! She was always firm about her beliefs about childbirth and didn’t let anybody around convince her otherwise.
“You know marriage doesn’t guarantee a happy ending. Just an ending.”
Believing in marriage being one of life’s end goals is a thought that’s been drilled into our brains ever since we came out of our mummy’s womb. This belief perpetrates a way of living that doesn’t allow one to live the other aspects of their life while only focusing on marriage. Samantha being Samantha made it clear to her girl gang that marriage doesn’t promise everyone a happy ending in life, just a plain old ending. Marriage may be a wonderful union of 2 souls, but it’s not supposed to be the centre of your life, just a part of it.