Mad Men Review Papter
Discrimination
I feel like one of the most prominent topics we covered in the lesson that was displayed in the show
Mad Men is discrimination. It is first displayed within only the first few minutes of the first episode when
Don is asked by his boss if they have any Jewish people working at the company to make the client that
was coming feel more comfortable. This was responded to with comments such as going down to the
deli to grab somebody, the fact that Jewish people are working at Jewish firms to sell products to Jewish
people, and asking if they were ready to go sweet talk retail Jews. These remarks were very derogatory
and it was clear that they were putting anyone of the Jewish religion below themselves. This show also
constantly shows discrimination towards women. When the client meeting gets heated because the
female client did not like their ideas, Don says he’s not going to let a women talk to him that way. Also,
when Peggie has her exam for birth control with the doctor, the doctor shows that he looked down on
the fact that she asked for it when she’s not married, and that he was worried about her being “easy”
with random men for this fact. It is also told to Peggie many times throughout the show that she should
be showing off her legs more for the benefit of the male bosses, both from male and female employees
that work there. This shows that there is a sort of understanding on both sides about the gender
discrimination because of the time period the show takes place, however that does not make it any less
wrong. A bigger example is in the second episode when Don’s wife is overwhelmed with the worry that
her car accident could have caused a bruise on her daughter’s face. Even going as far to say that it was
worse if the daughter had gotten a scar on her face and lived than if she had died. She states that if her
son had gotten the scar it would be nothing because he’s a male but if the daughter had then she would
be living a lonely and miserable life.
her was on the table too, suggesting she could be bought for sex. All of these are examples of
harassment that were displayed in the show that related to what we learned about this week.