Posted 10:04 AM by Blah blah

Marketers sell 'Sex' to Asian woman:

"In Asia, the HBO comedy series [Sex and the City] is a smash hit among young professionals, despite (or maybe thanks to) the fact that it goes against the region's traditional ideas of womanhood. And, for retailers and fashion houses, it's become a golden marketing tool to lure the show's affluent audience....

But the companies riding on the back of the show's popularity realize that its viewers are a powerful segment of consumers -- well-to-do, single, professional women with spare cash to spend on themselves, just like the show's heroines.

In Taiwan, 33-year-old communications consultant Lisa Chiu said Sex and the City gives her friends an excuse to chat about sex and their own relationships -- subjects they are usually too shy to bring up on their own....

The show is banned in Singapore and relegated to a late night slot in Muslim-dominated Malaysia and Indonesia. It has never been shown in India, partly because of censorship rules and partly due to fears of offending conservative Indians, said an official at Turner International, which markets HBO in India.

But that hasn't prevented its popularity from spreading in Singapore, a strictly run, rich city-state with a high number of single working women."

I tend to like reading what I call the Sex and the City clique of journalers. I have never seen this show, but I hear so much about it from them. They include:

Anna (San Diego), Christine (Taipei, soon in San Francisco), Cyn (S. Cal?), Felicia (New York City), Ginny (Taipei), Key (New York City), Jody (Taipei. Fictional journal. Stopped writing.), Laura (New York City), Min Jung (Oakland, near SF), Mira (Canada), Mona (Dallas), S X (Malaysia, was in New York City), Tammy (New York City), Trixy (Manila), Unica Hija (Manila), and Vicky (Singapore. No more journal.)

Christine and her friends had this lively Sex and the City discussion on her matchmaking forum, where I participated last year, though their lives are really more like "Sexless in Taipei."

Notice there is no one fun like you girls where I live? :(