The Sexual Politics of "Mad Men"

Hat Tip: Jonah Goldberg of NRO

Jonah Goldberg references a great blog post by Will Wilkinson on his reasons for watching "Mad Men", and it got me thinking about my regard for the show.

Firstly, I think the show is incredibly stylish--the men's suits, the furniture, the careful attention paid to period references (the flight to Baltimore's reference to "Friendship" airport--classic). all add up to a very visually pleasing hour.

Secondly, while Will Wilkinson's interlocutor tries hard to convince him of the sadness and miserable state of the guys on the show, he or she (is Mischa a man's name?) doesn't seem to get the concept of "relative" misery. Yes, Draper and Sterling and the little weenie guy all are portrayed with a great deal of angst and some lingering sadness---but then again, they are smoking whenever and wherever they want, they are drinking in their offices, their lunches are bacchanalian orgies, and they are stacking up secretaries like cord-wood. The home is the province of their wives, they have little or no expectation to provide "parenting" (except to be stern when required), and male friendships seem to have a place of honor.

Now cut to today's poor schlub, who works just as hard as these guys did (nay, harder), does not have booze in his office, does not have three-martini lunches, has voice-mail rather than a pliant 22 year old hottie, smokes "al fresco" if he chooses that habit, wears Dockers and vile company oriented polo shirts to work, and spends a good part of his Saturday morning standing around at the park with the other fathers so that there might be a 1:1 ratio of glum, ridiculous looking fellows to children actively playing.

I'm not saying there aren't tremendous upsides to being a man in today's world, but Garrison Keillor got it best a few years ago in a book he wrote called "The Book of Men". In it, he compared a monogamous man to a bear riding a bicycle in the circus. It was something you could train him to do, but on the whole, he'd rather be out in the woods doing things bears do. That's what is being portrayed in Mad Men--bears doing what bears do (did). It can be trained and civilized out of us (and thankfully, it mostly is), but there is a rawness, a uber-maleness portrayed there that today's more civilized bear at some very elemental level--longs for.