Mad Men Sexist Analysis

Mad Men is considered to be one the best shows to have graced television in the last ten years, with its interesting characters and smooth story line the show become extremely popular with audiences of all ages. Based on the advertising industry of the 1960’s the show follows the day to day life of Don Draper and his advertising firm and his treatment of his coworkers that are on his level and that are below him. However, it did not sit well with all people; many argued that the show was too sexist or to boring since they believed it lacked action. The most significant argument that arose from the show was it is basically an expose of the 1960’s bad old days because of the bad decisions made and the sexist comments and actions towards the

The 1960’s have a reputation for being stained as perhaps the most racial and sexist era in history of the United States. At the time these kinds of actions were seen as normal, but looking back at it, it is seen as unacceptable. When the Mad Men came out in 2007 it did a great job of embracing the whole sexist notion that was originally established in the sixties. The treatment of women in the show is unbelievable, most of the time they are treated as objects and not people while the men are seen as the greats of the show. We get a glimpse of this in the first episode of season one where Pete Campbell tells Peggy Olson that if she were to show more skin instead of wearing ankle length skirts then she would actually look like a decent woman. This is a perfect example of the mistreatment of women come from her superior who is also about to get

In the show drinking alcohol is seen as a normal thing that everyone in the firm does, so much that the receptionists are willing to go out of their way to get their boss the alcohol of their choice. When Don got his old receptionist back in episode eight if season four, a nearly blind old lady, one of her first missions was to get alcohol for don, and when she came with the wrong kinds he sent her back across the street to get the right kind. Not only is Don mistreating his blind receptionist he is also falling victim of the drug that classified the sixties. Don is not the only one with this problem, in fact most of the men in the firm are part alcoholic. In episode eight of season four there was even talk about setting up a martini bar for the creative minds that make the advertisements; however, Peggy rejects the idea as it is a waste of money and is just wrong. Their reasoning for the alcohol helps with the creative process of making a masterpiece; however, the real reason for the alcohol is to cope with the stresses of working a stressful job in a stressful environment. Perhaps the only bigger problem that faces the men working in the firm was their addiction to smoking cigarettes. Since they made advertisements for a cigarette company they were well aware of their dangers; yet they