Mad Men: Women Are The Objects They Want To Be

The men and women of "Mad Men."

Mad Men is a modern day pioneer in exposing gender roles from the past that are pervasive into the future. The patriarchal social order is more blatantly obvious in the era of Mad Men. The question becomes, what has deterred feminists from making more permanent strides? There is nostalgia for the clear order of the man in power. Mad Men illuminates a woman's subconscious desire to be objectified.

Don Draper is a powerful, attractive man. He symbolizes the patriarchal leader of the sixties, in both married life and work. His wife is one of many women he sees on a regular basis, all of whom are quite attractive themselves. However, Don's appearance does not suggest these less than honorable tendencies, rather it pulls a viewer into the position of wondering if they themselves would be attractive enough to please him. Women have proven this desire, as well - the sales of the women's items in the Banana Republic Mad Men collection have spurred another line.

The female viewers may be angry at the way Don treats women - but these are the same women that continue to tune in week after week. Regardless of the fact that they may logically know it is wrong, modern day women can without guilt live out the fantasy of being dominated by a man while watching the show.

The ladies love him.
source: ayearoutsidethepython.blogspot.com


A woman, seen here embracing a cardboard cut-out of Draper, had this to say about her views on the television series: "Draper is hot and cool and a real man. His hair is perfect, even his frown is perfect, and he is just the perfect package as the total man. My youngest daughter hooked me on this series, It takes place in the 60s in an advertising agency. Don Draper is the top Ad Man. Of course he has a perfect beautiful wife and three perfect children. In spite of everything that is perfect on the outside...there is a deep dark secret that surrounds Draper. I am not going to go into that but trust me, the secret is interesting, but Draper is hot." So let's get this straight. He's hot. Oh wait, hold on! He has a dark secret and his life isn't all that perfect... But no, he's hot. Regardless of the fact that Don has many deep psychological issues including misogyny, this woman wants to sleep with him, and has even obtained a cardboard cut-out to visually represent this. She is quite aware of Draper's behavior on the series, yet all critical thinking on the matter is shrouded by her response to his physical appeal. She wants Don to be her man, figuratively, and so do thousands of other women watching the show across the globe -- so much that they turn on AMC weekly to watch this treatment of women that is morally unjust. 


In "Mad Men," Don's treatment of women has many aspects. He sleeps with a variety of women on a regular basis, cheating on his wife and neglecting his children. He tells women in the workplace that their opinions are not as valid due to their womanhood, and he feels that because he is a man he has control over them. None of this matters to female viewers similar to the one above. The way Don jumps between women only encourages viewers to think to themselves, "How could I be the one he stays with? How could I win his heart? These women must be doing something wrong." This thought replaces the thoughts of Draper's emotionally abusive treatment and actions. Female viewers focus on how they could get Don to fall in love with them, not on the fact that he disrespects women and sees them for their appearance only. 

There is a part of women that wants to be desired purely because of her looks. A study done by a prestigious scholar found that scientifically, women are turned on when they feel like men are looking at them as purely objects. This quotation details this study: "The bottom section, though, summarizes a surprising theory from a Canadian (now teaching at the University of Nevada) social-constructionism psychologist named Marta Meana: women get turned on when they are regarded as sexual objects. In fact, women get turned on by observing other women being sexually objectified or when they themselves have the potential to be sexually objectified." Women are not attracted to Don Draper despite his treatment of women, but rather because of it. "Mad Men" brings this interesting fact to light by displaying the stark contrast between what women say they do not like in a man and their admiration of Don Draper who personifies what women supposedly do not approve of. 

The decision to cast an attractive man to play Don also was a decision to make misogyny attractive.  The question was if or if not the female desire for a man's approval would mask their doubts about the way gender relations are dealt with on the series. For many, it has. One woman spends her money on the Banana Republic line to look like the girls so fawned over by men, another goes so far as to purchase a three dimension representation of the man. Through this show, women can become aware of their own shortcomings in terms of critical thinking regarding the way they would really like to be treated.

"A Woman Wrote That?"

"I am a greaser. I am a JD and a hood. I blacken the name of our fair city. I beat up people. I rob gas stations. I am a menace to society. Man, do I have fun!" - S.E Hinton, The Outsiders

     The woman to the right is Susan Eloise Hinton, author of the classic novel The Outsiders. Critically acclaimed and honored, yet still hiding behind initials. In popular culture, when one thinks of a writer they imagine an old man smoking a pipe while pounding out syllables. A photo of a female writer is almost a shock - we as a culture are accustomed to imagining a man. Men continue to look down upon women for pursuing a career in literature, whilst women are almost validating this stance by abstaining from "coming out" as female. When the identity of the author is lost among initials, society will continue to think of novel writing as a man's profession - regardless of the contributions made by female authors. The literary world has caused women to believe that they can not write - and when they do write well, it is an oddity that should be disguised with a pen name.

So, women can write the occasional inspiring piece - but surely all incredibly successful writers are men, right?

Unless your name is Jo "J.K" Rowling, and your net worth is estimated at one billion dollars by Forbes Magazine. She has not only created a widely popular series, but a fantasy that has become tangible in the minds of readers everywhere. Surely, she cannot go by the initials J.K out of fear?

“Well, it’s because my British publisher, when the first book came out, thought ‘this is a book that will appeal to boys’ but they didn’t want the boys to know a woman had written it. So they said to me ‘could we use your initials’ and I said ‘fine’. I only have one initial. I don’t have a middle name. So I took my favorite grandmother’s name, Kathleen.” 

Had Jo not said "fine," and insisted on having her name published along with her novels, she may have continued to cement the path to gender equality. Yet one can not blame her, as this is what women in her position have done for hundreds of years in order to ensure that someone will be able to consume the literature they have drained so much of their spirit into. Hinton, for example, did not stray from the set course either. 


“I use my initials instead of my first name because the publishers were afraid the first reviewers would assume a girl couldn't write a book like the Outsiders.” – S.E Hinton 

George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans), author of Silas Marner and The Mill on the Floss.

This ideology regarding a woman's decision to write extends into the far reaches of history. The famous nineteenth-century writer George Eliot detailed the view on female novelists commonly held in society.

“We had imagined that destitute women turned novelists, as they turned governesses, because they had no other "ladylike" means of getting their bread (. . .) we pictured to ourselves lonely women struggling for a maintenance, or wives and daughters devoting themselves to the production of "copy" out of pure heroism-perhaps to pay their husband's debts or to purchase luxuries for a sick father.” – George Eliot 

The above quote is an excerpt from the essay "Silly Novels by Lady Novelists." Ironically, this biting critique of female authors was written by a female author. Mary Anne Evans, formally known as George Eliot, took a stance on the work of women similar to that of men. Her essay suggests that woman have a greater probability of writing trivial works, because writing is not, in fact, a "ladylike" profession. Mary seems to confine the act of writing poorly to only her female counterparts, as the essay is titled "Silly Novels by Lady Novelists," not "Silly Novels by Novelists." She has been socialized into believing what her culture says about her, regardless of her obvious talents. Her invective against female authors shows that she does not believe her talent is normal for women to possess. Mary is therefore not using her time to argue for men to cease their criticism, but instead joining in the mocking of literature written by lady novelists. 


George Eliot had three notable contemporaries she drew inspiration from. She only knew them as Curer, Acton, and Ellis Bell - however we now know them as Charlotte, Anne, and Elizabeth Bronte. George went on her assail of the silly novels of women with the assumption that her inspiration was written by a man, whose job it is to write literature. Would she have any different thoughts knowing that these contemporaries were woman?

Pictured above are the Bronte sisters (top) and their signed pseudonyms (bottom). Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Agnes Grey were classics written by Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, respectively. 

 Jane Eyre was truly the book that did it for me — the book that convinced me women could write. I had always thought male authors were just... better. I was George Eliot, writing powerful essays and sipping coffee while conversing with my peers about how women just can't write. As an aspiring writer, I have been dealing with issues similar to those of these female authors for most of my life. When I was young and just beginning, I would sign my name as Oliver, as I thought it was a name that sounded more like that of a writer. I now realize that this was only because it was masculine. I have experienced depression on being reminded that I am a woman -- that I will never be William Shakespeare. The more I challenge my beliefs, the closer I come to accepting my gender in regards to writing, and the more I accept the gender of authors I enjoy.

The number one most purchased item of the year on Amazon.com is a novel called The Hunger Games written by Suzanne Collins — not S. C. Collins, not Stephen Collins, but Suzanne Collins. Deciding to put her name out there as a female author has far reaching benefits. Maybe the next female author will follow in her footsteps, and the next, and the next. Maybe in the future publishers won't ask authors to change their names for money because there will be no more money in a females book than in as males. Maybe. The answer with ultimately come when I start publishing - will I be Olivia or Oliver?