The dynamics of gender roles in 1960s society is the most important issue within Mad Men. The show does not shy away from the conformism of the time. Behind the immaculate hair and perfectly styled clothes, men are in control and women are ultimately stripped of all power. The Man, Don Draper, the series' protagonist, is emotionally isolated but narcissistic, trapped in the stifling of his own ego. Yet he seems to be the most liberal when it comes to serious female contribution in the workplace, even as he continues to sexualize those who have not proven their worthy abilities to him. He is able to view Peggy and Joan as women who have other goals than satisfying his sexual desires. Despite this modernist “transition” consisting of observing women in a new light, it is still he who decides the usefulness of each female character. Male characters presumably occupy the dominant role within the series, as they did in 1960s society. In Mad Men, everyone chain smokes, every executive starts drinking before lunch, every man is a chauvinistic pig, every male employee viciously competitive and jealous of his colleagues, with an endless succession of leering young executives, crude jokes and abusive behavior. (Mendelsohn, 2011, 5) Men are consumed in the competitive environment of the advertising agency, with adultery, drinking, and smoking merely accessories to the dominant male's lifestyle. The female characters are ultimately more complex because they have less freedom. The Woman The 1960s provided a reality era of repressed women and overly lenient men across the social spectrum. Yet the nostalgic aspect of this manifests itself in the idea of ​​the perfect housewife and the graceful...... middle of paper ...... at the same time, the series provides sensualistic appearances of its female characters apart from the help of its female characters. derogatory comments towards its male characters, which almost insinuate that they "can't help but" sexualize them because they always look so good in their perfectly fitted dresses. As in the episode Hands on Knees (4:10), we meet the Playboy Bunny in his satin "bunny suit" complete with collar and bow tie, cuffs and cufflinks, satin bunny ears, black fishnet stockings and his name on a rosette attached to the barrel. a hip. Such scenes position the sixties as somehow seductive, yet another triumph of the image happily in tune with nostalgia. (Black & Driscoll, 2012, 196) The show can sometimes counter its own message, as it tries to tell us how bad "the good old days" actually were, sometimes it fulfills the nostalgia it tries so hard to deny. to his audience.