Sexual Harasment or Sexual Obligations?

When I started watching Mad Men, I have to admit that I was truly intrigued by the costumes, the classy sense of style, and the way of thinking. There is something about the show that is both shocking and addicting. 

However, as much as there are beautiful plots and enigmas, there are situations that are hard to watch. Mad Men does a great job at depicting the reality of the typical life of the average working woman of the 60's. Unfortunately, in most cases, she was usually objectified and insulted in the workplace. 

Peggy Olson and Pete Campbell

Women were the goddesses of the household, of the bedroom, and of running the perfect domestic atmosphere. But when it came to the professional aspect, women were continuously belittled and harassed at work. One of the prime examples from the show, was when Peggy Olson first walked into the Advertising Agency. Every man in the office started at her from top to bottom, and she was subjected to verbal harassment by Pete Campbell who plainly asked her wear a shorter skirt next time so he can get a better look at her legs. First Amendment Professor John Davis elaborates on potential reasons for this phenomenon "The line must be drawn, because since we are dealing with a sensitive area of communication, we are thus dealing with an invisible line of injury, and injury is a delicate issue with varying degrees. Since we live in a free society, it’s hard to demand less sensitivity for things that cause emotional injury.When it comes to sexual harassment, women have to ask themselves ‘at what point does conduct become illegal, and what is considered too much?’ A mistake that women often make is not speaking up, and that is a part of the problem."

As the show goes on, viewers can clearly see the common theme when it comes to women in the office. They were perceived as sex preys who can - and should - give it up at any given time to be able to keep their job.   

Professor Davis adds "I think that society has an issue with how to handle interpersonal communication about sex and the workplace. We also have to remember that workplace relationships have been growing because individuals are spending more time in that environment than anywhere else, so it becomes tricky to differentiate between someone who is trying to initiate a romantic relationship verses someone making an inappropriate remark." 

Here are a couple of videos that show the challenges Peggy had to face at the office: 

 

 

To put this into a modern perspective, Communication Professor Rodger Smith notes "From what I have read, it is still a mixed bag of the perception of women in the workplace. Women now are perceived as capable leaders, and doors have been opened for women thanks to opened minded leaders. There are men who have no problem filling a position with a women if she is qualified for the job.  With women in leadership roles, more opportunities for women exist.  Downplayed now are perspectives that women cannot handle leadership positions.  There will always be a set of men who perceive women as objects and nothing more, but I feel those perceptions are fading as we become a more educated society." 

Professor Smith also adds "some of this is academic, as economic considerations have forced families to seriously consider two person incomes. The advent of women taking more responsibilities in the workplace was inevitable, considering day-to-day cost of living expenses for the family. The wife needed to work to help sustain family finances." 

The rate of working women has increased drastically through the years, and with harassment laws being placed and administrated, women now have a relatively safer work environment. For ways to handle a sexual harassment situation at work, Professor Smith points out that "each company needs a plan in place that allows a woman who believes she was sexually harassed to talk to another woman in an advisory capacity or a leadership role within the company. Hopefully having that resource will allow women to talk confidentially to a fellow female. A woman needs to tell the harasser to stop this behavior to her. If the uncomfortable behavior continues, then she should report what she perceives as harassment to a superior." 

Divorce? Shh!

Infidelity is one of the most central themes in Mad Men. From the very first episode, viewers keep getting a shock after another when it comes to Don Draper, who in the first four seasons was married to Betty, and had two children. Don’s numerous endeavors with different women reveal the dark nature of men and their different needs from women. Throughout the show, Don sleeps with more than 10 women, most of whom he met while he was married.

This, however, did not seem to bother Betty – well, not at the beginning at least – as she tried so hard to maintain her image as the perfect wife and the perfect mother. When Betty and a female friend of hers found out that a divorced woman was moving into the neighborhood, they were mortified. They almost couldn't say the word “divorce” out loud, as it was looked down upon. Most of the women in the show, as referenced from the 60’s, feared the idea of divorce. They endured horrible marriages, unhappy relationships, and dominated lives instead of freeing themselves from something that was clearly not working out.

Today, studies show that women tend to initiate two-thirds of divorces in America. This is a big shift to how women handle marital problems. Women admit that the main reasons for filing for divorce are emotional neglect, verbal abuse, and infidelity. Click here for a great article presenting examples from real women about why they asked for divorce.

To get a more in depth look at this I spoke with Pamela White, a successful Radio broadcaster with 2 children. Pamela talked to me about her view on divorce “the woman now has become more independent intellectually and financially, therefore she has a better chance at leading a life without having to depend on a husband.” Pamela has also gone through a rough divorce in the recent years. When asked whether her divorce was an obstacle or liberation; Pamela shared “For me, divorce created one problem. I didn’t want my kids to grow up without a father.  But it was a liberation because for the first time, I could do more with my life without negativity and frustration.”

Women today have the choice of getting out of a bad marriage. They have the choice of choosing a good life for themselves, and that is probably one of the main changes that we can see compared to women of the 60’s, who unfortunately believed they were stuck forever. 

Body Image Perception

Betty Before

In its fifth season, Mad Men tackles a timeless problem for women: Weight. Although it may be hard to believe, but the show made a reference to Weight Watchers as therapy group sessions where women go to weekly meetings to track their weight loss progress. In this season, Don's ex-wife Betty gains a lot of weight and becomes extremely insecure about her looks and her body. Boredom, jealousy, and insecurity dominate Betty's life as a 1960s housewife on her second marriage, and she's turned to bags of Bugles to pass the time. Now determined to lose the weight, the former model turns to a new diet plan gaining popularity with women like her at Weight Watchers.

Betty After

That does not sound like a new problem, because weight has been an obsession for women especially with the outrageous media depictions of skinny celebrities in movies and magazines. It seems as though the problem has actually increased in the recent years, and that is proven by all the weight loss programs available. 

We now have DietWatch, Spark People, The 17 Day Diet, eDiets, and a lot more! Click on the link below to see a list of weight loss programs with ratings and full descriptions: 

http://www.freedieting.com/diet_plan_reviews.htm 

Dima el Charif, a George Washington student, and an avid exerciser, shared her thoughts on the subject: "The relationship clearly is that women compare themselves to other women. They tend to compare themselves to celebrities, therefore many women feel like their bodies are not enough." 

The struggle with weight and body image can be good, and can also be dangerous as Dima asserts "on one hand, this could help people hit the gym more often, on the other hand it sets unrealistic expectations to what they can get out of it" 

There is another serious factor that adds to the problem, which is the standards that women have to look up to. They see sexy and fit women on the cover of popular magazines and billboards, but they tend to forget that most of these images are actually photo shopped and edited to look a certain way. The media has made it very difficult for women to be happy and satisfied with the way they look, and that is the real problem here. Here are some examples of cover magazines that we see every day: 

                                                                     

Marilyn Monroe, Why are we obsessed with you?

Advertisement poster from Mad Men

Quite a few references to Marilyn Monroe were made in some of the Mad Men episodes. Although she was never featured as a character, the references made about her seemed to have such a huge effect on women back then. Monroe was adored by both men and women. Men loved to watch her speak, sing, dance, and just be whatever she wanted to be. To them, she was a goddess of beauty and indulgence. Women wanted to be her. They wanted to be desired and wanted like her. Her innocent eyes, fluffy blonde hair, luscious red lips, and voluptuous body were the perfect male trap. One of the episodes featured a poster idea for Playtex lingerie which had a girl that was basically a replica of Marilyn. Another episode featured the unfortunate event of Monroe's death. In that episode, all the women in the office - where the show mainly takes place - were devastated and crying all day long. That was a slight depiction of how much women loved her. 

I did the math, and it has been exactly 50 years since Marilyn Monroe passed away. So why are we still so helplessly in love with her? 

It seems to me that Marilyn is the perfect example of the sexy, playful, talented 60's woman. Her style is timeless, because women still admire her effortless class, her forever-gorgeous red lips, and her sultry smile.

In February 2012, NBC created a new TV series called "Smash", which is a  musical drama series revolving around the creation of a new Broadway musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe. The show quickly gained a loyal fan base. Brittany Sanders, a fan of "Smash", shared her views on Monroe: "I think that Marilyn is an enigma for many people. She always seemed sure of herself and she was beautiful. She went from nothing to an icon and had many issues along the way." She also added some thoughts on why we as consumers of media still find Monroe's character alluring:  "as a culture, I feel that America has a fascination with celebrities who have problems from Marilyn to Elizabeth Taylor and Lindsay Lohan. People are still fascinated by her because of the controversies that happened throughout her life and the questions that still surround her death."  

 

Today, there are many productions that are inspired by Marilyn. Even Rap artist Nicki Minaj made a song inspired by the legend. Check it out, it's a pretty good song:

Also, many of us have seen Hollywood shining with Monroe-inspired starlets.

Charlize Theron

Kathrine Mcphee

Michelle Williams 

Christina Aguilera

Katherine Heigl

Are we different now, or are we the same?

Hello ladies, and maybe gentlemen! Welcome to this liminal arena that is dedicated to take us all back to the classy days of the sixties. This blog is inspired by the successful AMC television series "Mad Men" which beautifully portrays the savvy lifestyle of the cigarette-smoking, whiskey-drinking, copy-writing men in the advertising industry in New York. 

This blog however, is focused on the women of that era. The show depicts men as the most central and dominant characters in almost all aspects of life. But here, we will explore the vital role of women as they evolved and proved to be worthy of more than just playing house. 

But wait, a lot of women today are active housewives, which means that housewives are still relevant in this era of almost-equality and technology. So are we different now, or are we still the same? Is there a limit to our metamorphosis? 

The first thing that I will address here is how women back then were only able to go so far with their college degree, because most of the good and powerful jobs were only reserved for men. Jobs like lawyers, doctors, justices, police officers, advertising directors, business owners, and the list goes on. In the show for example, all the important high paying jobs belonged to men such as Don Draper, played by the handsome Jon Hamm, who is the lead character of the show. 

Women at that time were expected to be housewives who bare children. That was - and still is - a prime function for females. There were however depictions of female occupations such as secretaries, nurses, psychologists, teachers, unknown painters.... but that was basically it! So I can proudly say that we have come a long way! 

I have had the great pleasure of speaking with Skylar Zwick, the External Communications Director at the Entertainment Industries Council Inc, and she had some great thoughts on the challenges and stereotypes that females faced through the years: "Women, historically, have faced the challenge of balancing domestic and career opportunities and managing societal expectations. The challenge exists today, but we, as a society, are better equipped to pursue both motherhood and employment because of technological advances and historical shifts that came along with World War II, the 60's, television depiction influence on popular culture perceptions, and higher education accessibility." 

When asked about her own success, Skylar added "I am blessed and honored to be a woman, working in a powerful world where opportunities are endless and where my mind is challenged daily to expand and succeed. There are, without question, instances where I feel the same strain as women of decades past, to balance education, work and family, but I have a support system that pushes me to excel and adapts with the ever-changing times to enable my continued success." 

Well there you have it, we have come to a time where women excel and succeed in almost every aspect of life. We have come a long way, but the fight still goes on. There still are many obstacles women have to tackle, but maybe in the next hundred years, women will rule the world!  

Click on these links below to see some really successful women of today: 

-Marissa Mayer: President and CEO of Yahoo! 

-Meg Whitman: Former CEO of eBay, and current President of Hewlett-Packard 

-Indra K. Nooyi: CEO of PepsiCo