Like a lot of people I’ve recently become addicted to Mad Men - I adore it! The only thing I don’t so much adore is watching how horribly the women characters are treated on the show…

The show takes place in the early 60’s (the first season was set in 1960 - the second season starts in 1962) and follows the lives of those in the Madison Avenue advertising world (where the “Mad” Men in the title comes from). The office dynamics for the ladies are quite atrocious. Check out this someone telling youtube mashup of some of the more deplorable behavior on the show - # 8, 4,3 and 2 are pretty telling:

And that’s just a small example..

This doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the show, I love love love it - it’s like when Robert Altman said he made movies about the way things are/were - not they the way things should be. While hard to watch, the eye-opening reality of what that time was like is somewhat extraordinary.

takepart to catch-up on all the episodes from season 1 - or check your local library, that’s where I rented the entire first season. Local libraries need our support.

Also - takepart to learn how you can support women’s economic rights in the workplace and then takepart again to help end sex discrimination.

Read on:

• Elisabeth Moss: “Mad Men’s” Square Peggy
• Back When Bras Were Conical And Men Smoked In Elevators: “Mad Men” Season One On DVD
• Mad Men on a New Frontier