“Mad Men” shows the problem, one that is far from dead and gone, the subjection of women to men; it expresses the limitations of being a woman in a world where men cannot empathize with them. As female archetypes of the 1960’s, Betty Draper and Peggy Olsen shed their struggles as a housewife and a young career girl. Betty Draper has given up her model career and succumbed to a life of wifedom. Everyday life consists of taking care of the children, cooking dinner, and cleaning, Betty feels no discontent. But she suppresses those feelings because it conflicts with her duty as a housewife. “Mad Men” also takes the stereotypes to the casual sexual harassment of women in workplace. But Peggy Olsen emerges as feminine powerhouse as she strives for a position among her peers, dominated by males. Not without a price, Ms. Olsen has to de-sexualize her image and has given up a baby for her career.
With looks that resemble Grace Kelly, Betty Draper emphasizes the importance of appearance in getting a husband. “My mother wanted me to be beautiful so I can find a man,” revealed Betty during psychiatry session. It is clear that Betty modeled herself after her mother. But behind the curtains, Betty feels unsatisfied and empty. She’s aware of the problem but doesn’t know what to do about it. As the result of this internalized stress being left alone all day, Betty begins repressing her feelings because it conflicts with her duty as a happy housewife. But the oppression has caused occasional numbness to her hand, and in one incident, she couldn’t steer the wheel of a car and got herself and the children into a minor accident. And in response, Betty worries that what if something terrible happens to the kids. It isn’t the possibility of her children’s death that concerns her but the fear of Sally, her daughter, getting a permanent scar. Because a scar is not aesthetic, Betty becomes afraid that Sally won’t find a husband and will live a miserable life. In another scene, Sally came home with her trimmed short by her friend. Betty’s belligerent mood returns and she slaps Sally. Betty recalls that her mother used to threaten to cut her hair as a form of punishment. It might seem like Betty is overreacting in those situations but it goes to show how ridged social identities pressure women.
Giving up her modeling career, Betty Draper retreats to the feminized world of a housewife. Her life too seems perfect with the house, the two kids, but it becomes clear that something was strangely missing. So Betty is thrilled when Jim Hobart, a high-powered executive, asks, “You want to go back to work?” as he offers her to model for an upcoming Coca Cola campaign. She finally feels she’s regaining her identity through this work. “A few days. I mean, is that so bad? I’d get paid. I can get Ethel to watch the kids. She watches them half the time now.” “I think it would be fun to go in and be that girl again.” That is until she discovers her new job was just a ploy to get Don working for Hobart’s agency. At the dinner scene, Don tactfully asks how Betty’s day went when he knows full detail about what happened, that he declined Jim’s offer and it resulted in Betty getting fired. But Betty reluctantly accepts her role as a stay home housewife and denies the opportunity to resume her career. She says, “I don’t like you coming home to some whipped together mess of whatever’s left in the fridge. And, frankly, I don’t like Manhattan on my own. It’s harsh.” “It can be,” replies Don. “And what am I going to do? Run around the city with my book like some teenager? Making a fool of myself?” It’s the scene when she wanders into the yard, in her day gown, cigarette cling to her mouth, and points a gun up at the sky to start shooting the pigeons that we understand her need to regain power in her life and that her former pursuit didn’t go away after settling as a housewife.
Peggy Olsen contributes to the stereotype that corporate women who chose career over marriage and kids are odd. She is from Brooklyn, and started at the bottom of the food chain as Don’s secretary and then promoted to junior copywriter within a year. But what sets Olsen apart from the other females casts are that she was raised without a father and lives in a house full of women. Her background contributes to her boldness and ambition in workplace, and thus Peggy embodies the choice of working women of that era. Peggy chooses her job, which gives her power, prestige and position, over her dorky boyfriend and family. The insight is shed in an elevator scene in season 4. Peggy anticipates in telling Joan that the former had fired Joey, who drew derogatory cartoons and many insults about Joan. "You did it for yourself, not for me," Joan says in pointing out Peggy’s real motive. Peggy hates how the sexual innuendos diminish her in office so she fires Joey. Joan continues, “So all you've done is proved to them that I'm a meaningless secretary and you're another humorless bitch.” It’s saying that no matter how much power women gets, they’ll remain trapped by the stereotypes.
Through her choice of fashion, Ms. Olsen proves that the only way for a woman to have the career she wants is to be unfeminine intentionally, to become a man in order to succeed in a man’s world. Peggy Olsen’s hair-style has always carried the bang, a pony-tail, and sometimes a slit fringe. She typically dresses like an innocent school girl. She is often seen wearing a button up with collared shirts and cardigans with elbow length sleeve and a very long skirt. It is all about being taken seriously. If Peggy dressed like Joan or any of the other women in the office for that matter, would the men listen to what she has to say any more than they do now? In a scene where the men of work are a strip club with some clients, Peggy shows up in an appealing blue dress and it is clear the men liked it, except Pete. But the next day, nobody made any comments about Peggy’s appearance that night. Her old-fashioned hair and dress are kind of like a shield; The costumes keep the men from seeing her as a pretty or sexy women or just a woman in general. Though later she transformed into a more savvy style to shed the “sweetheart, get me some coffee image.” Peggy learns that acting and dressing manly doesn’t work so she tries to find a balance.
When she gained a lot of weight from the being pregnant, she is de-eroticized and portrays as one of the guys. Peggy is often put in situations with her son, the result of sleeping with Pete, who is now being raised by her mother and sister, and you get the feeling that Peggy knows she’s gotten away from something bad. She got pregnant just as her career was taking off, and it’s revealed that after the birth of the baby, Don reserved her place for her as a copywriter even though he knows her secret. He encourages her to set it behind her, pretend that nothing happened. Her sister in particular wants everyone to know about Peggy’s secret motherhood; she wants her sister to suffer as she has as a wife and mother, trapped by biological duty.
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