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

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.

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.

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/08/mad-men-m…

However a lot of that flies right over the heads of a large segment of the male audience, who tune in just to see Don act cool, smoke, drink and womanize as they fantasize of being in his shoes.

Similarly in England there were supposedly many racists and skinheads who were fans of Til Death Do Us Part, the BBC show All in the Family was based on, who didn't get or didn't care that the show's intention was actually to mock racism, not celebrate it.

Don didn't seem all that threatened by Rachel, who occupied a far superior position of authority to Peggy in a business partnered with Sterling Cooper, in which interactions she insisted on, and got, treatment from the men as a business equal. Don seemed to be more stimulated than threatened by her. To me, thus far he seems more interested in promoting (literally) Peggy's career, whereas if he were threatened, it would seem he would thwart it as he does Campbell's.

Rather, it seems to me that it is the advancement of his wife past the role he has assigned to her that represents the greatest threat to his security, if his behavior is to be believed (and what else is there to consider?). i realize that Wilkinson has this angle covered as well as far as being able smugly to place himself ina situation far removed by societal progress from the one depicted onscreen.

Btw, I realize the smugness in this post is self-conscious in that it has been suggested that modern-minded folks watch the show to experience their superiority to a backward time, to which Wilkinson says, “As we should.” However, self-conscious smugness is no less smug, and no less pathetic, than any other down-your-nose historical-judgement smugness. Those who point out that this show couldn't be further form the lived experience of the era it portrays should, despite the fact that it is for all its fabrication a thoughtful depiction of gender relations, be heeded.

In terms of the progress of women, Peggy Olson serves as the opposite pole from Betty Draper, pursuing a creative career alongside the men, despite all the obstacles they put in her way.

Standing between these poles are the women of the office, many there by their lights only to find the means to leave the working life for the nirvana of Betty Draper-hood, with Peggy Olson-dom as an unthinkable fate to be consigned to. But in fact they each play important roles in the workplace without which the agency would grind to a screeching halt. Their self-conception has not caught up to the extent they have in fact self-actualized to some extent more than Mrs. Draper has.

The men are on the show largely there for comic relief and, as Will says, style, though the character of Don does represent well the almost-vacant-but-still-vaguely-yearning soul of modern nihilistic capitalism.

How ridiculous. How utterly insultingly ridiculous.

Believe it or not, many people were happy in the 40's, 50's and early 60's. How can this be, you scream, as they had not had the great “entlightenment' of the revolutionary 60's? Were'nt they all repressed and/or greedy?

Uh…no. Many of them, us, were quite happy and enjoyed full and satisfying lives going to the club, dancing, visiting friends, and in NYC, seeing extraordinary theater, Broadway musicals, great baseball, and affordable housing.

No one happy?

Think again, friends. We never had it so good again.

Had Mad Man been picked up by HBO, or one of the traditional non-cable broadcast networks, I bet its ratings would be orders of magnitude higher.

As for Peggy, I don't find her character improbable because I personally share her traits of audacity combined with social awkwardness, though not her work ethic.