By Sean Leviashvili

The “Sex and the City” movie won’t debut until May 30, but the ladies of Manhattan have been sparking conversation on sex and feminism since the show’s first season on HBO in 1998.

Whether it’s the candid conversations that take place among Carrie Bradshaw, Charlotte York, Miranda Hobbes and Samantha Jones, their sometimes over-the-top fashion statements or Carrie’s epiphanies as she narrates the show, fans say each episode, during the show’s six seasons, has drawn a connection between the audience and its characters.

“I feel like women have spoken about these topics for a while, but ‘Sex and the City’ was the first time [they were] broadcasted to a large audience,” said Veronica Scheibold, a middler political science and journalism major.

Although most Northeastern students were in middle school when the show debuted, many, like Schiebold, found themselves watching TV Sunday nights, despite possible household censorship.

“When it first came out, I kind of snuck around with friends to watch it,” said Marie Singleton, a sophomore math major. “My parents didn’t know. I guess it was the cool, sneaky thing to do.”

Watching and interpreting the show as a preteen is a different experience than watching it as a college student, said Rebecca Fischer, a junior English major and an avid viewer.

When Fischer was a 13-year-old, understanding the conflicts and storylines embedded in the script was not a priority of hers, but as she matured, she said her perspective changed.

“When I first started watching the show I couldn’t really relate to the characters,” Fischer said. “I just thought it was entertaining. I couldn’t really identify with the sex and love issues, but now that I’m older, I understand the show differently.”

Fischer said she relates to “Sex and the City” because she sees herself in the show’s main character.

“I’m definitely like Carrie,” she said. “I love to write, I relate to her humor and I, too, would spend all my money to buy cute accessories. For me it’s handbags, though, [not shoes].”

According to an HBO poll, 50 percent of people believe they are most like Carrie, 21 percent like Charlotte, 17 percent like Miranda and 12 percent like Samantha.

While many young women feel a connection to the show’s characters, Schiebold said there are aspects of the show that seem unrealistic, especially the amounts of casual purchases the characters make.

“The show made certain brands household names to a population that could not afford these brands,” said Kumirini Silva, a Northeastern communication studies professor, who addresses issues of gender and class in her courses.

“When I was in my early 20s, the characters on ‘Sex and the City’ were women I aspired to be like. I thought their lifestyle was a possibility,” Silva said. “Now that I am in my 30s, I realize how financially unrealistic it is.”

Younger viewers may also develop a warped view of sexuality and feminism from the show, said Claire Harwell, the program coordinator for the Campus Center of Violence Against Women.

“The [show] not only trivializes sexual contact, but also sets up sexual contacts as steps toward status, which can be very harmful,” she said.

The idea of women having ‘sex like men’ creates a false sense of normalcy for males and females, Harwell said, leading viewers to believe that kind of behavior isn’t unusual.

While “Sex and the City” explored new dynamics and situations, the show was not the first of its kind. The show emulated relationships, friendships and situations shown in “The Golden Girls” and “Designing Women,” Silva said – two American sitcoms that also focused on groups of four women. But, “Sex and the City,” addresses female sexuality more directly than any of its predecessors.

“These are topics that have always been inherent in our culture, but it did give people a very fake way to talk about sex,” Silva said. “Some people see the show as a sexual revolution, but it’s not. It’s media.”

Understanding sex and sexuality involves an emotional maturation process, said Emily Fox-Kales, a psychology and film studies professor, who teaches a course called “Women and Film: The Gendered Gaze.” Fox-Kales said college-aged women, along with their younger counterparts, may feel pressure from the media to present to others a ‘superficial understanding’ of sexuality and intimacy.

And while many view “Sex and the City” as a sign of a sexual revolution, Fox-Kales said the show sends messages that feminists have fought for years.

“My theory is that to accommodate for the last 30 years of post-feminist images of women being sexually assertive, [the show’s] creators have established female characters that are professionally given equal opportunities as men. But the women [are] still seen as a sexual objects,” Fox-Kales said. “But still, the most important thing about the female character is not her salary, her job or her intelligence, but how sexy she is.”

Nevertheless, fans wait in anticipation for the film’s nationwide debut in theatres. Schiebold, Singleton and Fischer all said they plan to see the movie opening night.

“The club I work for in Philadelphia is having a ‘Sex and the City’ party the night before the release,” Fischer said.

It’s a cosmo party, of course, she said.

And Fischer said she won’t be waiting for the flick to hit video stores.

“Once it comes out, I’m getting online to see it with my girlfriends,” she said.