Mad Men

I had heard about the television series, Mad Men, of course, but I had never seen it before, nor do we get the channel on which it airs.  I was aware that it was set in the 1960's because a daughter has mentioned watching it.  Beyond that I didn't know much.

There are six seasons complete, and apparently, half of the last season, the seventh has aired.   These days,  there really is not much on television that I have much interest in watching, so lately,  I have resorted to some Netflix television series watching.  Mad Men seemed like an interesting choice.

The story is based on a cast of characters in an advertising firm on Madison Avenue.  (thus Mad Men).  Even though I grew up, or came of age during this era,  this scene is so far removed from my own experience that I find it almost unbelievable.   Watching this show makes me realize what a sheltered life I lived growing up.

Life centered around small town, church, family.  I lived in a "dry" town and state. Alcohol was not part of the fabric of our lives.  Nor was money and power.  I am in the middle of season four, watching these shows.  Not surprisingly,  the main character, Don Draper, appears to be a serious alcoholic.

The one part of the show that is recognizable is the blatant sexism.  The men expect the secretaries to get their coffee. Women have their place and their roles to play.  They were not expected to have a brain or make any creative contributions.   I do remember experiencing all of that.  In fact, in the southern-ness in which I grew up,  women were expected to wait on their men.

And the sad truth that I have to admit is that I bought into all of that.   At least until the 1970's, and the age of feminism and the women's movement.   I came of age in my own thinking at that time.  Or perhaps it has just been a slow evolutionary process.

It is quite painful to be reminded about what the world used to be like, and I am sure still is for many women.

I am reminded of how far I have come.