The 1960s, arguably one of the most tumultuous change agent decades in our recent past, serves as the backdrop for the AMC TV series, Mad Men.The series spans seven seasons and chronicles social and political ideology through the lives of the characters working on Madison Avenue from 1960-1970.One of the most fervent feminist characters on Mad Men and now in television history is—Joan Halloway-Harris.
In Season 1, we see Joan explain that the primary role at the lone Sterling Cooper is to be subservient to the execs, to be ‘somewhere between a mother and a wife’ and to be well kept, not to mention keeping the Mad Men’s ‘personal life, personal’ and keeping one’s own person life at home (‘no crying in the break room’) (Litchock-Morellato 3). In season 5, Joan finds herself as a single mother in a man’s world and asserts herself to gain prominence in the office and take care of her family (‘The Other Woman’ 5: 511).Such juxtaposition is proof of her feminist rise.
In short, this paper will go through Joan’s transformation from secretary to partner in the fictional world in which she dwells to parody the life and times of the era; thus, illustrating an intimate portrait of feminism (‘Person to Person’ 7: 714).Mad Men allows the viewer to catch a glimpse of the decade that changed everything!
Works Cited: Litchock-Morellato, Faith.“The Culture of Mad Women: Poking Holes in the Glass Ceiling”.Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association,November 2011.Unpublished conference proceedings. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2011. Print.
“Other Women, The”.Mad Men:Season 5.Writ.Semi Chellas and Matthew Weiner.Dir.Phil Abraham.Lionsgate,2012.DVD.
“Person-to-Person”.Mad Men:Season 7.Writ. Matthew Weiner.Dir. Matthew Weiner.AMC,2015.Television.
About the presenterFaith Litchock-Morellato
Faith Litchock-Morellato is an Assistant Professor of ESL and Composition at Wentworth Institute of Technology. She is a current member of TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and MATSOL (Massachusetts Association of Teachers of Speakers of Other Languages). Ms. Litchock-Morellato holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Writing, Literature and Publishing from Emerson College and a Master of Arts in Teaching from World Learning (formerly the School for International Training).