TV VS. REALITY Please tell me the situations on 'Sex and the City' are fiction

Will the men of my 20s be as gross as the boys of my teen years have been?
By ALI SHERMAN
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
It's always amazed me how unrealistic television seems, but at the same time how it always reminds me of things that happen every day.
Take, for example, "Sex and the City." True, its overly scripted female banter is full of outrageous sexual innuendo, especially from Samantha, but that is what is so fun about the show: watching women say exactly what they think about men and relationships.
The show is also full of unnecessary drama, Miranda being the ruling queen of whining about her relationship experiences (which until more recently she seemed to have done little to improve).
It's all very entertaining but also sad.
I look at the women on the screen and I can see my friends -- or even myself at times. Subtract some of the nudity (easier now that reruns are on TBS), spicy sex scenes (same story) and over-the-top fashion, and it's really not that different from dating in high school.
When these four characters meet for breakfast to discuss their sex lives, it sounds remarkably like the lunch table in the cafeteria when my friends compare hookup stories. Or watching Charlotte get teased for her more conservative sexual views is not all that dissimilar to hearing teenagers call another girl "prude."
But the things that really get to me most -- and make me lose hope in dating in general -- are the men in their lives.
Scary thought
Is that really what I have to look forward to? Relationships with chauvinists, dates with losers and one-night stands with men I'll never see again? Please tell me this isn't reality!
Take it down to a high school scale and these men can be compared to guys who:
UResent that some of us expect them to be chivalrous, or at the very least polite;
UDemand more time than they're worth;
UExpect a girl to get physical after they've just met at a party. (That's my favorite.)
If all I have to look forward to in my next decade is a repeat of the kind of male immaturity I've already experienced, I might just let my parents set up an arranged marriage.
Stories from friends give me a glimmer of hope that girls can outgrow being crazy for accepting boys' boorish behavior, and boys can simply outgrow gross.
With luck, we'll use the experience gained from juvenile relationships in high school to avoid the kind of immaturity the women of "Sex and the City" forgot to discard.
XAli Sherman, 17, writes about relationships for the Kansas City Star's TeenStar section. She has had five serious boyfriends and four breakups. To reach Ali, a high school senior, send e-mail to teenstar@kcstar.com and put Attn Ali in the subject line. Or write to her c/o TeenStar, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64108.