Girls, Sex and the City, McCarthy's "The Group", and the Sexual Narrative

I just read this very fascinating article about the large role that the sexual narrative has played in the portrayal of modern women of the 20^th century. I came across it because I had read Mary McCarthy’s “The Group,” a novel about eight friends that have just graduated from Vassar College in the 1940’s. The storyline follows each of their lives as they become involved in careers and romantic relationships. Personally, I found the book the context of the book to be infuriatingly chauvinistic, though I should cut it some slack knowing the era in which it was written. Something I found really interesting was how the modern TV series “Sex and the City” was actually inspired by this book. The article mentions this as well as the series “Girls”, and how the vary in terms of the feminist message they attempt to send, but in the end, the focal point is still the sex lives of the characters rather than their other life pursuits. I am certain that “Sex and the City,” is far more progressive than “The Group”, while “Girls” is far better than “Sex and the City,” but I do believe that it is time to start moving away from the sexual narrative as a central plot line for these women-dominated shows.

http://www.newsweek.com/2013/07/31/mary-mccarthys-group-was-original-sex-and-city-237810.html