I love Mad Men. However, as a feminist, there are definitely some things about the show that I find difficult to watch. The show is being historically accurate, and they do a great job showing the layers of all their characters, but having a 21st century mindset makes some scenes incredibly difficult to endure – the scene where some of the guys in the office chase down a secretary to see what color underwear she has on, for example, or the one where Betty’s psychologist reports on the details of her therapy session to her husband. Today, The Frisky has a first-person account from a woman who went on a job interview and found herself seemingly transported back into the Mad Men era, without any of the awesome clothes or Joan Holloway:
- I was informed the “girl” they let go was terminated because she was “too professional in social settings and didn’t know when to turn it on and when to turn it off.” I nodded, working through the possible implications of that, as he continued. “I mean, if you are the sort of girl who, when you are out with a client, and he reaches over and puts his hand on your knee—well, if that sort of thing is really going to offend you, then this isn’t the right job for you.” Ahh, so that is what he meant. Fabulous.
- I was treated to a 10-minute lecture on “how to do business.” This included choice phrases like, “I’m gonna let you in on a secret, little lady,” and, “The real deals get made during social hour with a few drinks and some buttons undone.”
- He expressed his “hesitation” over the fact that I was married. “How is your husband going to feel about you being out on nights and weekends entertaining male clients?” Normally, I would have responded that my husband would be fine with it, as he supports my career and understands the time commitment that it requires, but I would assume that “entertaining clients” wouldn’t involve anything concerning my cleavage, thighs, or self-respect. That didn’t seem to be a safe assumption here, so I chose to dodge the question and steer conversation to my previous work experience.
- He revealed, rather grandly, that the position I was applying for came with a company car. “However, the car is equipped with a GPS, so if you go and park at Bed Bath and Beyond and go shopping for three hours, or go home to watch soap operas in the middle of the day, we are going to know. If you don’t leave the house in the morning until 10 a.m. because you had to watch ‘Regis and Kelly,’ we are going to know that, too.”
This story has a happy ending (well, for the woman who wrote the article, but not for whoever ended up accepting the job): the applicant said “no thanks” and got the hell out of there. Sadly, in Mad Men types the ability to say “no” may not have existed. I’m sure glad it does now.
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