The Emmy-award-winning TV series set in the 60s, Mad Men, owes some of its popularity to the depiction of female characters including Betty Draper, Peggy Olson, and Joan Holloway, as played by January Jones, Elisabeth Moss, and Christina Hendricks respectively. The female characters conjure iconic 1960s movie stars such as Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe, with Betty Draper emulating Kelly's cool, intellligent allure, and Joan Holloway embodying the fertile female sexuality of Monroe.
The acclaimed AMC TV show, which focuses on the hijinks in a fictional, 1960s Manhattan advertising agency, provides an unapologetic commentary on the plight of women in the 60s. [Spoiler alert: Some plot details are unravelled below.]
Betty Draper
Blond ice-beauty January Jones plays lead character Don Draper's wife, Betty. Betty, who is a Grace Kelly look-alike, appears to have it all: a stunningly handsome, high-income-producing husband, two adorable children, and a house in the suburbs. Betty is educated with a degree in anthropology, and comes from money. Appearing to have it all, Betty is noticeably unhappy. Her deep disappointment with her life materializes in the form of a nervous condition, which sends her to a psychiatrist. Like many women of the 60s who were conditioned to believe that their only option for the future was the role of housewife, Betty knows that her life is deeply lacking, yet can't seem to put her finger on how to fix it.
Betty's husband, Don, is in fact far from the perfect husband. Although he fulfills his traditional role as provider, Don, despite having a beautiful, loving and educated wife, is a serial cheater. Betty suspects Don of cheating, but he is often able to cover for himself by lying about working late at the office. Betty releases her tensions by indulging in her hobby of riding horses, a metaphor for her frustrated desire to control Don.
Joan Holloway
Joan Holloway, played by Christina Hendricks, is the shapely head secretary at Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency. Although Joan takes her job seriously, she is the butt of lewd jokes and sexual entendres due to her Marilyn Monroe figure. Joan would like more responsibility at work, and is temporarily given the task of reading scripts, which she does well until the job is assigned to a male co-worker. Unable to be taken seriously amidst the sexist office politics of the 1960s, Joan seeks power by succumbing to the charms of ad agency partner Roger Sterling and having an office affair.
Peggy Olson
Peggy Olson, played by Elisabeth Moss (Zoe on The West Wing), is a trailblazing woman of the 60s. Starting out as Don Draper's secretary, Peggy is quickly promoted to copywriter after demonstrating her aptitude for articulating modern women's needs, as well as coining catchy ad phrases. Peggy feels constrained by her traditional Catholic upbringing and clearly rebels against her background, as well as 1960s' code of conduct for women when she has an affair with the married Pete, and gets pregnant. Believing that a child will hinder her career success, Peggy allows her mother and sister to assume responsibility for raising her child while unacknowledging the child's existence.
The lead female characters of Mad Men are restricted by societal expectations of women in the 60s. While Betty Draper is caught in an unhappy marriage, Joan Holloway is restricted from moving up the ladder by male sexism. It is only Peggy Olson who is able to carve out her own future, and yet she must do this by denying the existence of her child. For these reasons, Mad Men is an often shocking piece of entertainment when observed from the vantage point of the 21st century.
Lori Bosworth - Hi! After having worked as a writer in the government for several years, I decided to return to university full-time to finish my ...
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