Mad Men
[2012-05-06 04:20]
What I've noticed is that every major female character (and many minor ones) are either caricatures, sluts, mentally inferior and/or submissive. Even women who are supposedly strong and independent inevitably show that they are willing to submit themselves, body and soul, to a man. The women on the show don't just sleep with men promiscuously, they defer to them like slaves.
- Peggy Olson: the "heroine", sleeps with Peter Campbell after meeting him briefly on her first day of work. Most of their interaction prior to shacking up consists of Peter condescending and/or disrespecting Peggy. We the audience are supposed to be appalled by this behavior, but apparently this is attractive to Peggy. When Peter shows up drunk at Peggy's door that evening, she decides to sleep with him, despite knowing that he is engaged (that evening was his bachelor party, in fact) and despite the horrible way he treated her.
Even after Peter is married and returns from his honeymoon, Peggy sleeps with him again. She is not the virtuous or innocent woman the show tries to trick us into thinking she is. She also tries to seduce Don, at one point, in her awkward way (putting her hand on his and thanking him for standing up to Peter for her).
This is also an example of mediocre writing: a lack of consistency or continuity in Peggy's character. Why is she not horrified by Peter's infidelity but is surprised by Don's? Why is she not shy about having sex with someone she barely knows (and also tries to seduce Don), but is upset when another copywriter in the firm comes on to her? (Battlestar Galactica did the same thing, by the way: throwing character inconsistencies into the stories and calling them as "plot twists" when they're really just contrivances hiding poor writing)
- Betty Draper: Don's wife agonizes over her husband's infidelity. But, through therapy and later scenes, Betty is shown to have the emotional level of a child. Because no mature woman really cares about fidelity, honesty and respect? Regardless, it shows that Betty is not a strong, independent woman.
- Joan Harris: The alpha female in the secretary pool, Joan is a heartless, soulless, slutty bitch. The show wants us to think Joan is a sassy seductress, which is to say that she's a strong sexual woman because she chooses to be the town cum-dumpster. That's the level of sexism that disturbs me. That this, apparently, is what passes as female empowerment and the height of a woman's ambition.
When Peggy complains to Joan about how all the men are sex hounds (again, an inconsistency in her character, considering how willing she is to sleep around), Joan says that this is just the way the men are, and "That's why we love them." In effect, Joan says that women don't want fidelity or integrity or respect, women want to be used like sex objects.
In another episode, Joan's long-time friend and roommate comes out to Joan and declares her love for Joan. This was a complete throw-away storyline. It ends with Joan coldly rejecting her friend's advances. Then, to declare her boundaries, so to speak, Joan goes out with her friend and picks up two skeevy guys to have sex with. Joan takes one of the two into her bedroom (making it clear that they're going to have sex) and leaves her distraught friend with the other. This was unnecessarily cruel. Even if Joan is homophobic, she supposedly knew her friend since college (and since Joan is in her 30's, that means she's know her friend for around 10 years). But she cares not a bit about her friend's feelings.
This is pretty much the last we see of Joan's roommate, which causes me to observe that very few of the female characters in the show have friends outside of the men they screw. A few have family, but the show rarely depicts women with a support group of female friends. There are a few exceptions (Betty Draper has a neighbor named Francine), but it's as if the women have no lives outside of the men's.
- Midge: Don's original mistress, similar to Joan, is a woman who has sex with several men and uses them to get things (like a television, a wig, etc.). Later she shows up and tries to sleep with Don to get him to buy some artwork from her because she needs money. Yet another female character who's only strength is her ability to fuck.
- Rachel Menken: Portrayed as a strong, intelligent and independent woman with the opportunity to run her family business. Nevertheless, she -- like ALL the women in Mad Men -- submits to the will of Don. Even knowing that he is married, even after he completely disrespects her and storms out of a meeting, and despite her initial reservations, she chooses to have an affair with him, caring nothing for his wife or WHY Don is willing to have an affair. Then, like a scene from an adolescent male sex fantasy, Rachel submits to Don and begs him for sex, whispering "Yes, please" when Don says he wants her to ask for it.
Later, Rachel says to Don of their affair "This is hard for me, but mostly because I can't imagine how hard this is for you." Again, the woman's needs and values are insignificant compared to the man's.
- Anna Draper: The wife of the man whose identity Don stole, says to Don "I want you to have everything you want" and tells him that it's okay for him to lie to his wife about his real identity and past. Again, consideration and respect for a woman -- even your wife -- are not even worth considering.
- Bobby Barrett: The wife of a comedian who is hired to perform in a commercial, tries to show Don that she's a tough businesswoman. Exerting his superiority, Don corners her in a restaurant, grabs her hair and shoves his hand up her dress and threatens her until she submits (which doesn't take long). Effectively, he rapes her. But it's okay because, secretly, this is what she wants. And this is what the writers and creators of the show apparently think:: all women secretly just want to be worthless sex slaves.
- Trudy Campbell: When Peter Campbell's wife meets Don for the first time, she gives him a lusty look. In the DVD commentary someone (I don't remember who) pointed this out as part of the show's suspense -- that maybe Trudy and Don might shack up. Again, the writers want the audience to think that, despite the fact that Trudy just got married, she is willing to have an affair with Don, suggesting that she has no real values or virtues either.
- Miss Blankenship: Don's secretary is an elderly woman who is hard of hearing. She, like a few minor characters, is a caricature and not really developed as a real person. Mrs. Blankenship is worth mentioning, however, because it's revealed that she used to be a slut like Joan, when she was young. Et tu Miss Blankenship?
There are other moments of sexism as well. In one scene, one of the copywriters admits that he doesn't know what to do for a lipstick campaign because he "doesn't speak moron" (meaning, he doesn't know how to appeal to women). This statement can be passed off as being period-accurate (i.e., that this is how men thought back then). But, when the men decide to observe a focus group of women to see what they like about the lipstick, the women all hop around like giddy airheads at the prospect of being able to try on some lipstick. This is supposed to be funny, and we're supposed to laugh because, apparently, women really are morons.
Overall, I guess I still like the show somewhat -- I'd give it 3 or 4 stars (out of 5). It doesn't bother me that there are female characters who like being dependent on and/or dominated by men. It doesn't bother me that there are female characters that are gold-diggers, or ditzy, or cartoonish. But it does bother me that they're ALL like that and that there are no positive female characters who are not dependent on or subservient to men, in the show.