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Mad Men - Portrait of a 1960’s Housewife
I’m a huge fan of Mad Men on AMC. It’s the one thing about Sunday night I just love because I usually just dread the Monday morning that comes all too quickly. I think the appeal of Mad Men for a lot of fans is seeing how gender roles have change so much in the last 40+ years. One of the most understated yet complex character’s on the show is Don Draper’s seemingly dutiful wife, Betty.
In the first season, Betty really played the part of the 1950’s housewife. She did everything that was expected of her and turned the other cheek even when she knew Don was cheating. As we get into season three, it’s so apparent that times are a-changing. Betty’s had affairs herself, the audience sees her apparent dislike of her children and how the general discontent being just a wife is changing this woman.
Today if wives stay at home, that’s acceptable. If they want to work, that too, is acceptable. We have it made. But the early 60’s really seemed like a time of marital discord and disharmony. Women could only model themselves after their mothers, but longed for more. Television was a prominent technology so women could finally see what the grass looked like on the other side, albeit in B&W.
The show is doing a good job of showing how women probably slowly moved from one structured role into another. On the flipside, husbands had to take on roles in the home they never did before. It’s amazing what a role media played in the way American society during the 50’s and 60’s. Or maybe it was society changing the media?
That’s great, I never thought about Nostradamus in the OR (Insights from Eugene Litvak at IHI) like that before.