It took me awhile to think about who I wanted to focus on for my first Woman You Should Know post of 2014. But I settled on one of my favorite writers, Candace Bushnell!
You might recognize Candace’s name from her books, Sex & the City, Summer & the City, The Carrie Diaries, One Fifth Avenue, Lipstick Jungle, Trading Up, and Four Blondes.
Sex & The City, the book, was the basis for HBO’s television series, and two movies. Lipstick Jungle and The Carrie Diaries also went on to be television shows.
Fun facts:
- Attended Rice University & New York University
- Started her professional career at 19 when she published a children’s book
- Was a freelance writer in her 20s
- Started writing a sex column in 1900 that was a precursor to Sex & The City
- November 1994, Sex & The City (her column) was born
- Hosted a radio show on Sirius called Sex, Success, & Sensibility (2006-2008)
- Created a web series, The Bedroom, starring Jennie Garth in 2009
In my research for this blog, I came across this video from Oprah (cringe), where Candace shares the story of her marriage—she met and fell in love with a professional dancer (not that kind of dancer), and they were married 7 weeks later in 2002, when she was 43.
She talks about how she had already given up on the idea of marriage, and she’d started building her life without a man—how refreshing! But…unfortunately after ten years, she got a divorce. In the same video, she says she has no regrets and that ten years of marriage was a big success for her.
Just the other night, I surprised myself when I got incredibly emotional at a tiny discussion on the idea of me dating someone. You know, the “Those guys aren’t worth your time, you’ll meet someone, don’t worry,” conversation.
Yeah…no. My eyes welled up with hot tears. I don’t even like thinking about me dating someone; it actually makes my stomach churn. Why? Well, I did the quick math. Ninety percent of the men I’ve been with have cheated on me, and I’m pretty sure this has resulted in me associating dating with a great deal of pain, and sometimes abuse.
Having said that depressing bit of info, simply reading about someone else’s success in love brightens my spirits.
So, why is it that I love Candace Bushnell so much? Well, A. I love her books (One Fifth Avenue is my favorite!), and B. She’s one of the women that made talking about relationships and sex okay. Sure, we talked before. But she made the conversation open and honest.
And if anyone can appreciate honesty, it’s me.
I’m leaving you with one of my favorite scenes from Sex & The City:
“That’s the difference between girls and women: Girls find men fascinating. Women know better.”
—Candace Bushnell, One Fifth Avenue
The Bitter Lemon 