Journal 2

I was watching the show Mad Men the other day and I’m glad to see that sexism in the workplace is being exposed on mainstream TV. The show is about an advertising agency in 1960. Times have changed greatly since then because in the show it illustrates how women would become secretaries not necessarily to make money but to meet a rich man and marry him. Also women are treated with little respect and the main character Don Drapper(John Hamm) constantly cheats on his wife until she decides to divorce him. She felt dependent on him for a long time and knew what was going on but didn’t break it off until she found a person she could marry which further backs the stereotype that women cannot live on their own. This show is full of sexism and gender stereotypes, another example is when Don’s secretary is promoted to a copyrighter everyone assumes she slept with him. Also another secretary wears a wedding ring and talks about her husband to deter men from hitting on her and making sexist comments. I think that society has come a long way since then because now if people act like that in the work place a sexual harassment can be filed. We still have a long way to go because women don’t get paid as much as men and generally many moms stay at home with the kids while the dad goes to work. My cousins family is an exception to this, my uncle stays at home and takes care of the house while his mom goes to work they are both a happy couple and don’t seem to have many problems. I hope in the future this can happen more because it makes women seem like they have a less significant role in the family even though staying at home is a tough job especially with multiple kids.