Feminism in Strange Places: The Women of Mad Men

I've been wanting to write a post about AMC's Mad Men for ages now and, since another episode just aired last night and I'm trying to distract myself from the latest terrifying poll numbers, I figured that now would be as good a time as any.

For those who aren't in the know, Mad Men is a period drama set in the early 1960s in an ad agency in Manhattan; it's now in its second season and has proven to be quite popular. On the surface, it's not a premise that one might imagine as a bastion of feminism, especially considering the show's self-proclaimed dedication to accuracy and attention to detail. As you can imagine, the era of happy housewife heroines and consumerism is not portrayed as particularly woman-positive. On the show, the women in the office--most of them typists and secretaries--are routinely objectified by the male ad execs while the wives at home raise the children and have meals prepared for their hard-working men (many of whom often employ the "I have to work late at the office" excuse to hide their philandering and drinking). All that said, while Mad Men preserves the chauvinism of the time period (drawn into sharp focus by the fast-paced maculinist work environment of the agency), it's both an intriguing show and showcases some extremely compelling female characters who, sometimes subtly, rise beyond their prescribed gendered roles (even if they aren't exactly feminist by our standards).

(Read on for more, but beware some spoilers for Seasons 1 and 2.)

The Women of Mad Men

Betty Draper
“She wanted me to be beautiful so I could find a man. There’s nothing wrong with that. But then what? Just sit and smoke and let it go ‘til you’re in a box?”

Betty Draper (on right) is the stereotypical 1950s housewife, with an edge. She's married to Don Draper, the Creative Director of the Sterling Cooper Ad Agency, and ostensibly divides her time between raising their two children and waiting for Don to come home for dinner (or not). Betty is sharp, sweet and loyal to a fault, at least on the surface. In Season 1, her neurotic episodes (the internalized stress of being left alone all day and the onus of being the happy housewife at all times) land her in psychotherapy. And, early in Season 2, her bottled-up frustration with Don's womanizing ways causes her to be unjustly prejudiced towards their young son. What's intriguing about Betty is her deep inner life, to which we're only barely privy, the constant sense that there's more to her than we see, that she might just have some card up her sleeve. Moreover, Betty embodies the silencing burden of forced domesticity in way that is both understated and deeply palpable.

Joan Holloway
“These men, we’re constantly building them up. And for what? Dinner? Jewelry? Who cares!”

Joan Holloway (center) is the Office Manager at Sterling Cooper. She has a lot of power--authority over all the typists and secretaries (and quite a bit of influence over the artists, copywriters and accountants, to boot)--and she knows it. While in Season 1, she was the clandestine lover of one of the senior partners, Roger Sterling, Season 2 finds Joan pursuing her own life more fervently. Joan is not a nice person, but she's a great character--she's smart, manipulative, and bitchy, and those are her good qualities. She probably knows more about what's going on in the office than all three of the top guys (Sterling, Cooper and Draper) combined, and she knows how to use that knowledge to her advantage.

Peggy Olsen

“I don’t think anyone wants to be one of a hundred colors in a box.”

Peggy is by far my favorite character on the show, and she's probably the most overtly feminist. Don's former secretary-turned-junior-copywriter (a rare job for a woman at Sterling Cooper), Peggy is quiet, fiercely intelligent, and slowly trying to make a name for herself amidst the good ole boys at the agency. A sexual misstep early in Season 1 leaves Peggy sneaking off to have a baby by the end of the season, a child her sister now raises in Brooklyn. Since then, Peggy is much more judicious, and she doesn't use her sexuality to get by. She's a little arrogant, but also unerringly honorable, sometimes to a fault. Her most recent transition, from staid to classy--she glams up in order to get in on the post-pitch celebration at a strip club in the Season 2 ep. "Maidenform"--may not seem very feminist. But I'm not quite sure I'd agree. By joining the guys on their playing field--the frivolous celebration at the strip club--she acquires more, not less, respect professionally, and sets herself up as someone who can work and play on equal footing as her male co-workers.

Bonus Round: The Women (Un)Fortunate Enough to Fall Into Bed with Don Draper

Don Draper, philanderer though he is, seems to have a penchant for independent women:

Season 1: Midge Daniels, a beatnik artist/art illustrator, who eschews marriage and love, adores sex, and eventually leaves Don when she becomes bored with his controlling ad-man attitude.

Season 1: Rachel Menken, Jewish department store owner who meets Don while she's seeking a new look for her store. She falls in love with him, but leaves the city when she realizes that Don's attention is less about his love for her and more about his attempt to escape from the problems in his life.

And, last (for now), but not least, Season 2: the razor-sharp Bobbie Barrett, wife of comedian Jimmy Barrett and an astute businesswoman who manages her husband's career. She's already gotten Don into a fair bit of trouble, and I have no doubt their affair will be causing a big fuss in future episodes.

The female characters in Mad Men are so compelling to me precisely because they operate under such narrow, gendered social constraints and yet are still rendered as capable, smart and powerful. It's an interesting paradox: a series set in a time and place of extreme chauvinism, Mad Men somehow succeeds in providing strong female leads in a way that many television shows today still haven't yet mastered.

(Whew...I'm exhausted. I think I need a cocktail.)

Update: For a counter-argument, and fascinating discussion in the comments, check out The Hathor Legacy