24th Sunday after Pentecost
Hebrews 10:11-14, 19-25
Mark 13:1-8
Great performance this weekend by the local early music ensemble in residence at the church--the music of the troubadours singing in the languages of Old French--langue d'oil and langue d'oc, along with some early church music. Fun!
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I have been watching the first two seasons of Mad Men this fall--it was not available on my local cable plan before now. I just love it for its close attention to historical detail; it feels like I'm watching a public history production, the types of programming put on by museums, for public consumption. I wonder whether historians of film will talk about its presentation and historical accuracy?
During the course of one episode, I recall hearing either the music or the lyrics for a Jack Jones song, Wives and Lovers: link, and link. Or was it Roses and Lollipops: link? I had to smile, because the song was so familiar to me.
How in the world do I know about popular music from that time? As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm a Generation X'er. My parents are of the Silent Generation. They would have been of a same age as the Mad Men; the young adults in their twenties who worked at the ad agency as junior employees. So my folks have music from back then, and when I was of high school age (or so, perhaps even junior high,) I listened to their records, and Jack Jones' music was in the mix, as well as music by Burt Bacharach, the composer who wrote a fair number of tunes made popular during that time. He wrote the tunes Jack Jones made famous and then did his own versions. I like his instrumental version of Wives and Lovers as well: link. See their pictures above.
I always thought Wives and Lovers was music for those who were grown folks at that time, as I thought (back then) of how it compared to music for the younger teenage crowd. The younger ones listened to doo wop and early rock and roll. I listened to the music for the younger set years later on the oldies station, before I became more interested in classic rock from the 1960s. Jack Jones was singing to stay-at-home wives like Betty Draper about taking care of themselves because their husbands were surrounded by pretty young things who were itching to replace them in their husbands' affections.
And isn't that what Mad Men is about? Women privileged by their race and class wielding the only currency they have to gain the vicarious power that comes from connections to men who are more powerful. Their sexuality is all they have in exchange. Betty Draper explained that her attractiveness was what enabled her to earn her keep. Her looks evokes men's chivalry. Her looks brought her husband to her; her looks, class and race enabled her to access a certain type of environment where she could meet the type of man for whom her looks (and style) would be an asset. For Don Draper, she signifies that he has arrived and is a true "master of the universe", in that he has the ideal family life with a wife and two children in a suburban home. He has the type of wife other men admire, and he can afford to keep her in beautiful clothes.
But the price means she has to know her place. She is not an equal; none of the Mad Women are. Her looks gains her chivalrous protection, and part of that protection means that she has to always be chipper and upbeat, not causing any waves. Sexism is rampant and divorce would mean loss of status. So she has to go along to get along. But she is not her husband's companion. She is merely his wife and status symbol. He has sex with her, he fulfills the husbandly roles (most of the time, except when he feels suffocated), but she is not his confidante. He has other women for that, his lovers.
Only a few women I think so far could have been of the type to have been both the wife and confidante, and one was the Jewish woman who was his lover for a brief period. He really liked and admired her and enjoyed talking to her. The sex and companionship seemed to be a diversion from the emptiness he seems to feel and the fact that he can't be open to anyone, not really. He is living a lie, using another man's name, presenting himself as something he isn't. He is his own ad campaign in a work environment where the other Mad Men would love to bring him down and take his place. Another confidante was the widow of the man whose identity he stole. She knows everything about him and his secret, yet they were never lovers. She is a platonic friend who understands him and as a result he is generous in making sure she is looked after; he has her late husband's identity. It is the least he could do.
Other women like to have sex with him because they know he has a voracious sexual appetite and the masters of the universe like him believe it is their right to pursue extramarital sex. It is part of their work culture--evenings away from home, socializing with each other and without their wives, overnight stays at hotels when they work late; sex is easy and the women they meet have their own interests to pursue, whether it is sexual fulfillment or whether they feel it is what they must do to gain power.
The comedian's wife pursued sex with him because it is what she brings to the table in negotiating on her husband's behalf, as his business manager. Yet, his interludes with her holds the seed to his destruction. Going off for a tryst with her, he gets into a car accident. His tryst with her is known to her husband; he tells Betty, and it leads to tension in their marriage. It is funny, how the male competition thing worked. He sees Draper poaching on his territory; she sees it as the best tool she has in the business world. She can't be a man; she can only be a woman. It is her greatest asset.
Joan the office manage is quite clearly in this category of women who see sex as power. She is known for being fun and sexually available, and that is how Roger, one of the partners, sees her, insofar as they used to have an affair. Yet, she seemed to feel more for him than he felt for her. It is unclear whether sex with him was necessary for her to get and/or keep her job, but regardless of any feelings she might have had for him, she was nothing more than a "piece of a--" to him, a safety valve that enabled him to relieve tensions, whether they work-related or related to living in a long-term marriage. They break up and she becomes engaged to a doctor.
The young secretary that Roger dates after breaking up with Joan, was more capable of wielding her sexual access for real power. Coming across as a nice and sweet young woman, she is not overt about being interested in sex at the office, although she knows how to get men's interest in a subtle manner--she is mildly flirtatious. She appears shrewd at the same time she appears vulnerable and in need of protection. This is what brings Cooper in; this is what eventually causes him to leave his wife to marry her. But will she keep it? She is young and pretty. Who is to say that another young and pretty thing might not look at him as a prize to fight for?
The critical race feminist in me does not forget that part and parcel of these women's ability to wield their race, class and gender privilege is predicated on other women's lower status on the race, class, and gender hierarchy. All the black women are maids. The one black woman who was of their class dated one of the mad men, but was disparaged by Joan who resented that he could date a black woman after being with her. But by the end of year two, it seems as though his relationship with her is not as noteworthy.
White women have always jealously guarded their class and race privileges; it has been their primary social currency, their ability to gain chivalric protection from men, whether from male relatives, or the men they meet in the greater world. It is one reason why some white women are resentful of women of other racial backgrounds who are able to access the ones they see as "theirs". Yet, at the same time, some want to be able to wield their privilege and access men of other groups. It is all part of their race privilege in a gendered context...
So now that the second season of Mad Men is over, I look forward to seeing the third one. I might have to wait a while. The third season just ended recently, and I don't know when the dvds will be available...
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As an example of what things were like "back in the day," I ran into a colleague with whom I spoke about the show, and he explained that when he started college in 1964, the traditional perspectives held sway. He went to Harvard; his girlfriend was at Radcliffe. She typed his papers. Men did not learn how to type, because it was expected they would have secretaries who would do that sort of work. They married their senior year, sometime in 1967. They both wrote senior theses. She would cook dinner, in other words, take care of the home and type his thesis, at the same time she did her own. He then went on to law school, graduating in 1971. By that time, they had a more egalitarian marriage. He did the primary childcare for their child, who was born in 1971. That son is now a 39 year old father of a three year old. He and his wife more or less stay at home and co-parent, because he got in early at a well-known start up. He cashed out his stocks and retired. He now consults part time...
