Smoke, Sexual Harassment, and No Seatbelts

It's a wonder we survived the 1960s. I’m not talking about the cold war, Viet Nam, or hippies.

I've just started watching Mad Med on Netflix - a show on A&E about an advertising firm in 1960.

In addition to the plot and characters such as the mysterious and troubled Don Draper, and in spite of being horrified by much of what I see, I'm fascinated by the 1960 styles and attitudes. Like a car accident, I can't look away.

It is a world made for straight, white, men. The only African Americans in Draper's life are the nearly invisible elevator operator and the guy who brings the sandwich cart around. Gay and lesbian people are either invisible or reviled, and live in constant fear of losing their jobs or worse. When a divorcee moves into the neighborhood, she is greeted with gossip and hostility, except for one of the neighborhood husbands who makes a pass at her.

They did things in 1960 that we wouldn't dream of doing now. For example, they smoked - in the office, in the kitchen, in bed, in the doctor's office, in the car... There is smoking in every scene. Pregnant women are smoking. And they drink: at the office, at lunch, everywhere. People drink mass quantities of wine and liquor. Sloshed, they get in the car and drive, and nobody says a word!

Also in the car, no one wears a seatbelt. Little kids climb from the front seat to the back seat and back again, as Mom speeds down the street.

I don't think Mad Men is exaggerating, except perhaps in the sexual harassment department. In Mad Men, if you're a secretary (and all secretaries are female), you should expect to be hit on by men in the office, multiple times, and you don't complain. Sometimes, you give in. This certainly happened in 1960, but surely not as much as Mad Men portrays. While my dad referred to his office staff as "the girls," I doubt very seriously if he sexually harassed them. On the other hand, without today's consequences, and with 1960 views of women in the workplace, I suppose sexual harassment could run amok.

 Don't be fooled by politicians who tell you things were better in the good old days. I'm not saying we don't have problems now. But at least there isn't second hand smoke in the office, gays and lesbians can usually find a safe place to be, and we work our own elevators.