One of my favorite shows of all time, hands down, is AMC’s Mad Men. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the show, here is a little background from AMC: “set in New York in the 1960s, the sexy, stylized, and provocative drama follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising, an ego-driven world where key players make an art of the sell.”[1] The show revolves around one particular advertising agency, Sterling Cooper, and the lives (both professional and personal) of those who work there. Although Mad Men doesn’t take place during the raunch culture of today, it depicts a time when a different kind of culture also devalued women. Despite this difference, when watching the show through the lens of Ariel Levy’s Female Chauvinist Pigs, Mad Men reflects a version of raunch culture similar to that of our culture today. Specifically, the show plays into Levy’s ideas of raunch culture and the Female Chauvinist Pig through the character Joan Holloway, the head secretary at Sterling Cooper. More generally, it is interesting to think about why Mad Men is so popular today, especially with women. Women make up a large part of the fan base, despite the negative and oppressive presentations of women in the show. In order to understand how these ideas and characters relate, it is important to cover some background first.
According to Levy, raunch culture and the Female Chauvinist Pig both stem from a larger phenomenon: women are acting like men. Our society embraces a patriarchal culture and women are socialized to accept male models of leadership as the social norm. Things like power and success are associated with men, but these are things that women want, too. In order to succeed, women must fit in, and in order to fit in they must act like “one of the guys.” The problem, Levy says, is that women are being taught that achieving equality is associated with two things: “acting like a man,” and taking on qualities that are traditionally associated with men and masculinity. But, by embracing the masculine, women are essentially rejecting things that are traditionally associated with women and femininity – an act that devalues other women and the category of women in general. Enter the Female Chauvinist Pig. According to Levy, “raunch provides a special opportunity for a woman who wants to prove her mettle. It’s in fashion and it is something that has traditionally appealed exclusively to men and actively offended women, so producing it or participating in it is a way both to flaunt your coolness and to mark yourself as different, tougher, looser, funnier – a new sort of loophole woman who is “not like other women,” who is instead “like a man.” Or, more precisely, like a Female Chauvinist Pig” (96). In this sense, raunch culture and Female Chauvinist Pigs go hand in hand. Levy says that women are wrongly buying into the idea that modern raunch culture is empowering, but both males and females are at fault. Women are objectifying themselves and accepting this objectification: they are making sex objects of other women and themselves (Levy, 4). They are caught in the middle – they have to show that they are “one of the guys” while maintaining certain sexuality. Levy explains, “the task then (of the Female Chauvinist Pig) is to simultaneously show that you are not the same as the girly girls in the Victoria’s Secret catalogs, but that you approve of men’s appreciation for them, and that possibly you too have some of that same sexy energy and underwear underneath all of your aggression and wit. A passion for raunch covers all the bases” (99). Although Levy acknowledges that everyone doesn’t participate in this raunch culture, it still has become an expected (and accepted) part of society as a whole.
There are several parallels between Levy’s conflicted woman of today and the Mad Men character Joan Holloway. In many ways, Joan can be seen as a very real example of Levy’s Female Chauvinist Pig. Evidence of this can be seen throughout the show, but I am choosing to focus on two specific clips. The first is from the first episode of the first season.
Here, Joan instructs Peggy (a new secretary hire) on proper office etiquette and expectations. Joan is bossy but charming, sassy but sweet. Both men and women seem to gravitate to her because of her confidence and charm. At the same time, she takes advantage of her head secretarial position and gives “advice” to the newer, lower secretaries that plays on their insecurities and tends to make her look and feel powerful while usually making them look and feel inferior and unintelligent. Like Levy’s Female Chauvinist Pig, Joan is a woman of contradictions. While her strong personality and attitude give her power over her female coworkers, she also uses her sexuality as an intimidating force and something for the men in the office to lust after. She exudes sexuality through everything she does, from the way she dresses to the way she walks, talks, and even smokes. Like Levy’s Female Chauvinist Pig, Joan seems to be a part of a delicate balancing act: she must be tough enough (or masculine) to intimidate her coworkers and be taken seriously, yet alluring enough (or feminine) to maintain her seductive image.
The second clip is also from the first season, but a later episode. In this scene, Joan is on a “lunch date” with Roger Sterling, one of the Partners of Sterling Cooper. While the last scene showed the many roles that Joan takes on in the workplace, this scene shows the contradicting roles of Joan’s personal life. From the very beginning of the clip, even those of you who haven’t seen the show can probably gather that Roger is married (and not to Joan). That aside, Joan and Roger sneak away to hotels during lunch breaks where they do quite a bit more than have lunch. Throughout the scene, it is clear that Joan is conflicted. On one hand, she tries to pull herself together – she gets dressed and attempts to deflect Roger’s advances. He showers her with kisses and gifts, which she takes, but it is as if she emotionally tries to keep her distance. On the other hand, she is constantly using her sexuality to influence and control his every action. She has to be emotionally distant and calm in order to maintain a sense of power over Roger, yet she still has to be submissive and sexy to sustain his interest. She claims that she loves being with Roger (and she obviously has a good time with him) but she also wants to keep her apartment and her autonomy – she enjoys her “own world.” Still, as much as she enjoys going out and having parties, by telling Roger this she knows that she will make him jealous. He yearns to make her happy and give her what she wants, but she won’t tell him what that is. Like Levy’s Female Chauvinist Pig, Joan strives to be both independent and adored. She can’t show too much emotion (femininity) or she risks being vulnerable, but she also can’t be too independent (masculinity) or she risks losing Roger. Although her constant change of mind and heart can be hard to keep up with, the contrasting sides of Joan are a part of what make her character so intriguing – and so similar to a Female Chauvinist Pig.
Overall, Joan Holloway acts and behaves a lot like the way Ariel Levy describes the Female Chauvinist Pigs of today. Joan may not be a Female Chauvinist Pig herself, but traces of Levy’s ideas present, even in the 1960s. Even though Mad Men is set during a different time period, it is important to consider that the show is on television today, in our generation. Women may watch Mad Men and think, “oh, that was then” or “we’ve come so far.” But shows like Mad Men, shows with themes that include the oppression of women, are still on television and women are still watching them. Don’t get me wrong; I am a devoted Man Men fan. My intentions are not to criticize the show or to discourage others from watching it. Countless reviewers praise Mad Men for authentically portraying the roles of men and women in the late fifties and early sixties, not to mention their ideals and values, both good and bad. Still, it is interesting to think about why so many women today tune in to watch a show where women are depicted in such negative positions. Maybe we are fascinated by the romanticized yet raunchy world of the “mad men” themselves – their jobs, their homes, their families. Maybe for some of us, it really is “just a show.” But maybe, just maybe, we haven’t come so far after all.
Disclaimer: I really do love the show Mad Men. Yes, there are things that some of the characters do that I don’t exactly approve of. But I watch the show and until recently I had never questioned why. When I told one of my friends that I was a huge Mad Men fan, he replied, “Seriously? But that I thought that show was all about manipulating advertising men who drink and smoke and cheat on their wives. You actually like watching that?” His description may have been a bit exaggerated, but to a certain extent, he was right. So why do I still watch Mad Men? I think I can guess what Ariel Levy might say.
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