Reflections on Mad Men

First off, I have to say I love this show. The writing, the acting, the attention to detail — all just perfection. But there is one thing I find a little troubling. In general, there seems to be a reaction from (or on behalf of) many men that paints this as some sort of nostalgic golden age.

The reaction from women, however, is horror. I’ve watched Peggy have an illegal abortion after being used by Pete, Joan be prostituted for the sake of business, secretaries be harassed, patted on the ass and denigrated. Watched Joan and Peggy struggle for respect and an equal place in the office, and seen Don, Roger and Pete repeatedly cheat on their wives. Everyone drinks and smokes to excess. People regularly drink and drive. Women drink and smoke while pregnant. African Americans hardly have a place at all in the corridors of power, let alone ordinary equal rights. They hardly even make an appearance in this show, which is reflective of the actual conditions of the 60’s. Then there are the “minor" things, like mindless littering, no seat belts, and a truly sickening moment where Betty, as some kind of pillow talk foreplay, jokes about helping her husband rape a teenager. Wow.

I have little nostalgia for this time. How can anyone watch this and not be utterly grateful for the sweeping changes in consciousness, behavior, respect and inclusion of minorities and women? It helps to have lived through this time. I remember when highways were trashcans. Remember the anti-littering commercial with the weeping Native American chief? It began the shift in consciousness to clean up the country. I remember rolling around the back of our station wagon without seat belts and the startling highway fatality statistics that prompted Ralph Nader’s book “Unsafe at Any Speed".

I remember my surgeon father-in-law arguing with me that it was unproven that diet affected heart disease! I remember my brilliant mother was told she could not join “men’s" occupations. My generation was one of the first to break that pattern and have real opportunities in medicine, law, and business. I was pregnant around the time when doctors finally started telling women not to drink or smoke. Not to mention the revolution of natural childbirth and nursing.

Sure women have a long way to go, especially around the world, but hey, we’ve come a long way baby! (hmm… that was actually a cigarette ad. Maybe I should find another expression.)