One of the things that grabs Ladies of a Certain Age about Mad Men is the authenticity of the seriously fraught gender dynamic of the era.
Take Peggy for instance, through each season we watch her get squeezed between her two desires to be liked by men and respected by them. Given the setting, it seems she can only pick one.
Well, here’s a fantastic post by art critic Carol Diehl about the sexuality of the era, featuring appearances by Brigitte Bardot, Ann Margret and Mad Men:
“Last night, after the turkey, we watched two films from 1963-64 back-to-back: Brigitte Bardot in Jean Luc Godard’s “Contempt,” and “VivaLas Vegas” with Elvis and Ann-Margret. To my male friends it was high camp, but for me, watching them produced flashbacks of what it was like to grow up in that era: wanting men, wanting them to like you, wanting them to want you, but at the same time having to fend them off on a daily basis, the frustration of having your strengths ignored while being valued for your sexual potential…”
