Comments on: The Gender Politics of Mad Men

By: This Is Not About Lost « Survival Hungry

This Is Not About Lost « Survival Hungry — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:59:15 +0000

[...] heckuva good blog, had written about Don awhile ago. Revisiting it, I see I missed the updates here. I don’t argue with him that part of the appeal for some people is seeing a time and [...]

By: Basket of Kisses | Mad Feminist News #2

Basket of Kisses | Mad Feminist News #2 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:05:42 +0000

[...] was firmly entrenched. OW quotes Will Wilkinson, who additionally has some sharp perceptions on the Gender Politics of Mad Men. Micha Ghertner disagrees with libertarian blogger Will Wilkinson’s take on Mad Men; [...]

By: joshgl

joshgl — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:11:49 +0000

Not actually the case. Anyway, can you believe Nixon won?

By: joshgl

joshgl — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:11:49 +0000

Not actually the case. Anyway, can you believe Nixon won?

By: compare drug prices

compare drug prices — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:55:31 +0000

I think your analysis is spot on. I love the show, and I think many men watch it because they do live vicariously through it.

By: J

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:36:13 +0000

I think Mad Men is more like watching theatre that most other TV or movie experiences I've had lately. There's no doubt a strong whiff of “unrealism” about it that feels deliberate on some level–like the goal is not to depict the 60s in a documentary fashion (despite all the careful art design), but more to grasp at a specific emotional experience through a pretty narrow slice–the self-created, “new” and somewhat off-the-rails culture of Madison Avenue. Even then, it seems a little beside the point to think *too* much about whether “all” early 60s ad execs and their families were really “like this”. All the characters are types–the career girl, the spoiled rich boy, the bombshell secretary, the (literally in Don's case) self-made man, the “perfect” wife, etc. There's entertainment and provocation that comes from juxtaposing and sometimes deconstructing these types (the career girl sometimes wants to be a party girl and vice verse, the perfect wife is anything but, etc.) But these aren't “real people” and it doesn't really feel like they're intended to be.

By: IB

IB — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:02:27 +0000

I loved this post. Peggy is very much a misfit amongst the men and women.

I feel frustrated in way, watching Peggy. But just feel sad when I watch Don's wife.

By: T. AKA Ricky Raw

T. AKA Ricky Raw — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:27:50 +0000

For some people it is “not caring” but don't get it wrong, for many it's a case of “not getting it.” I say this because I have friends of the Maxim and FHM crowd who are not only totally oblivious to the show's larger themes, but actually think the show is an ENDORSEMENT of the old guard. Yes, people miss the point THAT badly. I try to tell them what the show is really saying and they just dismiss me as being overly analytical.

Anyway, ALL viewpoints at this point in history are tired, whether conservative, liberal, men's rights, feminist, pro-white, anti-white, whatever. We only complain they're “tired” when they're contrary to our own viewpoints.

By: Madras

Madras — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:22:31 +0000

This is probably correct, but I think it has more to do with “not caring” what the real theme is rather “not getting it.”

Mad Men reaks of pseudo intellectual rigthousness (probably why so many libertarians seem to perk up when talking about it). Anyone can get that its trying to make some tired point about progress. But its entertaining anyways. Apparantly a big portion of the gay population finds the crazy bigot Rev. Phelps entertaining for camp value…same idea.

By: Madras

Madras — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:17:26 +0000

Wrong. It may have been “aimed” at those people but it has reached mass popularity, must-see-Sunday type status. Everyone has watched it now.