The fairer sex? or unfairer sex?

I know it is about five series too late but I have recently become obsessed with Mad Men. The HBO series set in 1960s America, at an advertising company in New York.




I love the fashion and its stylistic setting, it is amazing. Recently, however, I had a discussion with my boyfriend about the women in Mad Men and their independence. I argued that in the 60s women were finding their own independence, in that they could choose to be something other than a wife, if they wanted to. The sexual revolution was pushing forward with women being able to have sex with who they wanted and have the choice of birth control meaning they wouldn't get pregnant or the risk was lessened. He argued that the fact they sleep with married men means they are not independent as they are going on the whim of married men. Whereas, I could see his point, I argued that they fact they could choose to sleep with them and not be married to them showed their independence, maybe a little warped but it made sense to me.


I started writing this not to talk about the amazing series but that of women and sexism. In the show women are regarded as either wife or sexual object with not much (if anything) in between. In the world of advertising women were seen as the secretary or the wife. So when Peggy moves up to copywriter it is a move that the men look shocked at as in those times a career was not a viable opition for a woman being a wife was meant to be their goal.


Many people like to think that sexism is something of the past and is not really an issue in modern times; however, anyone who has seen the news or read a paper recently will see that in relation to sport this is not the case. The recent case with Andy Gray, Richard Keys and Sian Massey highlights this perfectly.


In case you didn't know Sian Massey was the female linesperson at the Liverpool game, who Gray and Keys didn't think knew the offside rule and made comments about women in football.
Surely there are many men who don't know the offside rule? The fact she is a woman doesn't mean she has a chip in her head that says she can't compute the offside rule. It is frustrating that things like this are still happening, the glass ceiling it seems is glued shut and women are still hitting their heads as they rise up.


I must admit that I am glad that Andy Gray has got the sack, although there seems to be more to it than meets the eye. Sky didn't put up with racism when Big Ron made a comment so why should they put up with sexism. At least Keys apologised to Massey.


Just goes to show that the mad men in the world are still there and still opinionated.