work
about money
Aug 17, 2023 | 1:58 PM
Candace Bushnell wrote a popular sex column for the New York Observer that later became “Sex and the City.”
In an interview with On The Money, she discusses the state of the media industry, how the economics of marriage have changed, and her own luck on dating apps.
Lydia: The media industry has changed a lot since the 90s. Could Carrie Bradshaw make a living from her column in this day and age?
Candace: Many of these online digital platforms are going out of business. Everything is changing, including the television landscape. Insiders say networks and cables will be dead, and streaming will be dead. So no one knows. There are still people who write books and make a lot of money. I hope that there is always room to make money in the creative field. It may not be books or media, but something else. When it comes to media, people always want to know what’s going on. As a species, we are obsessed with knowing what is going on.
Lydia: How has New York changed since the pandemic?
Candace: The big difference is mobile phones and social media. And then there are dating apps. When it first came out, no one wanted to ride it.
Lydia: There was prejudice.
Candace: There was certainly some prejudice. I use a few apps, like Bumble and Hinge, but I still meet more people in real life than on dating apps. On dating apps, I meet a lot of people I already know, including ex-boyfriends. New York and the Hamptons are very social, so it’s still possible to meet people by going out.
Lydia: Do you like the direction of “And Just Like That…”?
Candace: enjoying. It’s about the characters, and I like new characters, so it’s fun to watch, and I hope it goes on for six seasons.
Lydia: Do you think it still reflects your life today?
Candace: No, it is its own and has its own logic.
Lydia: Your work has spawned many spin-off works such as “The Carrie Diaries” and “Lipstick Jungle”. Do you have any other spin-offs in the works?
Candace: Yes, but we have to wait and see because of the writers’ strike.
![Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000014873018.jpg?w=1024)
![Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000014873018.jpg?w=1024)
Lydia: What’s your best advice for someone trying to make it in New York?
Candace: It’s about continuing to do what you want to do, but it’s hard because there are many rejections. Now it’s even more difficult because of social media. In other words, FOMO makes us more prone to depression. There is a lot of comparison and despair. It used to not be so easy to compare yourself to others.
Lydia: Has the quality of men changed since the original SATC in the 90’s? Are people still as interested in marriage today?
Candace: People are definitely still interested in relationships, but technology has changed dating because of technology and what we can avoid and how we can live our lives. It used to be difficult to be alone in the world. 100 years ago, you couldn’t go to the supermarket and buy a meal just for yourself. The future will be even more single, thanks to technology.
Lydia: Economics has certainly changed.
Candace: In the past, women had to access sources of income through sex and caring for children, husbands, and others, unless they were raised in wealthy families. As women, we don’t have to do that anymore. That was SATC’s true purpose: women in her 30s who had a career and could support themselves. What does female sexuality look like when women have their own money and earn their own money?
Lydia: Given these changes, are women today happier in their relationships?
Candace: My biggest complaint is straight women trying to find long term relationships. Age doesn’t matter. If you are heterosexual, you are weighted in favor of men. men have money Those with money have a choice. It would be very interesting if women could go out into the world and make as much money as men.
Lydia: So, if the wage gap narrows, will the playing field be leveled?
Candace: We look forward to helping you. But who knows? A robot is coming. Sexbots are coming.
Lydia: What are your recent projects?
Candace: A one-woman play. Starting off at the Darryl Ross Theater Off-Broadway, I ran it twice at the Carlyle Theater. Now on August 17th at the Canoe Place Inn and mid-October at Green Room 42. The title is “Candice Bushnell: The True Story of Sex, Success, Sex and the City”. It’s about how I made Sex and the City, how much effort I put into getting there, why I invented Carrie Bradshaw, and what happened to me afterwards. It’s about whether I loved doing it and had a great response. Next year we will be touring in Chicago, Palm Beach, California, South Africa, Canada and hopefully the UK.
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