Social Issues In Mad Men

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Recommended: A rhetorical analysis of gender

Some of the social problems shown in Mad Men still play a key role in the problems we define as social problems today. A big one being gender inequality. One of the cultural beliefs of the 1960’s was that women belonged at home taking care of the kids and keeping the house tidy. Neil Postman’s concludes in “The Age of Show Business” that our society is becoming more aware about itself through the primary method of television. How TV presents a nation, turns into the standard for how a nation orchestrates itself- and this is the crucial point (279). Mad Men portrays the idea of traditional gender inequality. Shows like this give off the idea that women should act like this, which disgusts modern day viewers, specifically women. However, women in the 1960’s were taking a stand entering the business world, hoping to create a better future for the next generation, leading up to the election of 2008 when the first women ran for president. Mad Men contributes to patriarchy in American society by perpetuating gender inequality and traditional gender roles, which can lead to sexism. …show more content…

Women wanted to be out of their traditional roles in society playing the housekeeper, and they wanted to join the business world. Women rebelled in many ways, including the popular bra burnings. Women burned their bras as a symbol of rights women should have. Although some women got out of the home and into the business world, men still treated women relatively the same. Not only did women not receive equal pay or hold equal jobs; men also sexually harassed women at work. This harassment still exists today in offices around the country. Men treated women as if they did not matter in life; they were just alive to keep men satisfied. Some of the ways men treated women in the 1960’s are no longer socially acceptable, but still present themselves in today’s

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