The influence of the media on women is not unknown, but it was especially prevalent in the 1960s. According to David Croteau and William Hoynes, both professors of sociology, “Media images of women and men reflect and reproduce a whole set of stereotypical but changing gender roles” (quoted in Mahrdt 1) and, as society changes and opinions are altered, television shows adapt. However, the television show Mad Men is unique because it does not show life today, but the life of the 1960s. It shows what life was like for the women who lived during a time when the “feminine mystique” controlled society.
While Mad Men may seem to be just another sexist show dominated by chauvinist men and submissive women, it is, in fact, a time piece. The creator for the series, Matthew Weiner, was recreating a show of historical facts through his fictional characters. Matthew Weiner shows the life for women of the ‘60s as they struggle with their identities in a sexist society. He does this through the lives of Betty Draper, Joan Holloway, and Peggy Olson.
Betty Friedan’s book, The Feminine Mystique, explains the mind set of society in the 1960s. She writes that the women of the ‘60s were identified only as creatures looking for “sex, babies, and home” (Friedan 36). She goes on to say “The only passion, the only pursuit, the only goal a woman [was] permitted [was] the pursuit of a man” (Friedan 36). This mind set, this “feminine mystique,” is clearly shown throughout the show Mad Men. The side effect of the feminine mystique hurt all the women of this time. Matthew Weiner shows how this conception of the “ideal woman” hurt all of his lead women. The consequences are shown in the two women who bought into the idea, Betty and Joan, and the one who re...
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... Men.” Shari Mahrdt. Word Press.com, Dec. 2012. Web. 5 Dec 2013
“The Mountain King.” Mad Men: Season Two. Writ. Matthew Weiner and Robin Veith. Dir. Alan Taylor. Lionsgate, 2009. DVD.
“New Amsterdam.” Mad Men: Season One. Writ. Lisa Albert. Dir. Tim Hunter. Lionsgate, 2008. DVD.
“The New Girl.” Mad Men: Season Two. Writ. Matthew Weiner and Robin Veith. Dir. Jennifer Getzinger. Lionsgate, 2009. DVD.
Newman, Stephanie, Dr. Mad Men on the Couch: Analyzing the Minds of the Men and Women of the Hit Tv Show. New York: Thomas Dunne, 2012. 87-157. Print
“Red in the Face.” Mad Men: Season One. Writ. Bridget Bedard. Dir. Tim Hunter. Lionsgate, 2008. DVD.
“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.” Mad Men: Season One. Writ. Matthew Weiner. Dir. Alan Taylor. Lionsgate, 2008. DVD.
“The Wheel.” Mad Men: Season One. Writ. Matthew Weiner and Robin Veith. Dir. Matthew Weiner. Lionsgate, 2008. DVD.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Dir. John C. Mitchell. Perf. John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shor and Stephen Trask. 2001. DVD.
Steffen’s article, “Gender Stereotypes Stem From the Distribution of Women and Men Into Social Roles”. In this article, they discuss the root of gender stereotypes being derived from the unequal distribution of roles for men and women in society. They believe too many women are left to be “homemakers” while men become professionals. This is evident in Survivors as the show chooses to have Abby take on this maternal role. This unequal distribution of roles then, in turn, leads to men and women being labeled with certain qualities. According to Steffen and Eagly, women are believed to have communal qualities, or “manifested by selflessness, concern with others, and a desire to be at one with others”, and men agentic qualities or, “self-assertion, self-expansion, and the urge to master” (Eagly, Steffen 736). Abby epitomizes this desire to help others and selfness, while the surrounding men are less likely to trust others by questioning the actions of other men in the
The Truman Show. Dir. Peter Weir." Perf. Carrey, Jim. Paramount Pictures: 1998, Web. 24 July 2011..
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Reichardt, Kelly (Director), Raymond, John and Reichardt, Kelly (Writers), Williams, Michelle and Robinson, John (Performances). 2008. Oscilloscope Pictures, 2009. DVD
The Break Up. Dir. Peyton Reed. Perf. Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. Universal Pictures, 2006. DVD.
Moore, Michael, dir. Capitalism: A Love Story. Narr. Michael Moore. 2009. Overture Films, 2009. 1st ed. DVD-ROM.
The setting takes place present day in Harlem, New York. The main character is a sixteen-year-old boy named Steve Harmon. Steve Harmon is on trial for a murder that he believes he did not commit. While he is in jail he is writing a script for a movie about the trial. The script helps Steve stay calm and not go crazy while he is in jail. Steve and his Defense Attorney, Kathy O’Brien, are trying to prove to the jury that Steve is innocent. Steve is thought to have been working with two other men, James King and Richard “Bobo” Evans. These two people robbed the store and then Steve apparently killed the owner of the store after Bobo and
Bedazzled. Dir. Stanley Donen. Perf. Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Twentieth Century-Fox, 1967. Laser disc.
“The wolf of wall street.” Dir. Martin Scorsese. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie. Paramount , 2013.Film.
Fight Club. Novel by Chuck Palahniuk. Screenplay by Jim Uhls. Dir. David Fincher. 1999. 20th Century Fox, 2002. DVD.
During the 1950‘s suburbs such as Levitown were springing up all across the country, and the so-called American dream was easier to achieve for everyday Americans than ever before. They had just come out of two decades dominated by The Great Depression and World War Two, and finally prosperity was in sight. The need for women to work out of the home that was present during the war was no more, and women were overwhelmingly relegated to female-dominated professions like nursing, secretaries, and teachers, if they worked at all. Televisions became very popular, and quickly became part of the American cultural canon of entertainment. Leave It To Beaver is a classic American television show, encompassing values such as respect, responsibility and learning from your mistakes. But, at least in the episode used for this essay, it is also shockingly sexist to a modern viewer. This begs the question, what does the episode The Blind Date Committee1 say about the gender expectations of the 1950’s?
Elysium. Dir. Neill Blomkamp. Prod. Bill Block and Simon Kinberg. By Neill Blomkamp. Perf. Matt Damon and Alice Braga. TriStar Pictures, 2013. Film.
In both of these series, representations and meanings of masculinity and femininity are affected by the ideology of patriarchy. Even though it is true that these shows tried to fight back against stereotypical representations of men and women, the subtle textual evidence in these shows show that there are limits to how gender norms can be represented on television, especially in the Classic Network
"One Tree Hill." Dir. Gregory Prange, Paul Johansson, Mark Schwahn, and Joe Davola. SOAP. 23 Sept.