Sitcoms in a League of Their Own

Abstract

This paper examines the parallels between the situation comedies, The Golden Girls and Sex and the City. These shows possess striking similarities in their character portrayals and both emphasize the sisterly relationships of their characters. Using representative episodes, this paper illustrates that The Golden Girls and Sex and the City belong to the same unique subgenre of sitcoms that involve the non-traditional family formed by close female friends. In addition to criticism by genre, this paper also analyzes The Golden Girls and Sex and the City for each show’s individual manifestations of and implications for feminism. This study observes that the messages communicated by these shows are significant on their own, but are magnified when conveyed through repetition dictated by membership in a genre. Comparative analysis of The Golden Girls and Sex and the City intersects genre criticism and feminist criticism, creating a situational feminism that transcends entertainment with its social implications.