Mad Men's Peggy Olson and the Problem with Feminism
Peggy Olson, the only female copywriter character on AMC’s hit show ‘Mad Men’, has been hailed by Time as “TV’s Most Relatable Feminist.” The actress who plays Peggy, Elizabeth Moss, described her character’s feminism to Vulture this way:
“[Peggy] is not going to be a hippie, she’s not gonna start burning bras. She’s a different kind of feminist. She’s the one who works really hard, and concentrates on her job, and wants to move up in the world of her business. And her progressiveness and her brand of feminism — it comes in probably a bit of a more realistic way, you know? Those were the women — there were more of those women than were the hippies who burned bras and picketed. Those women were the ones who were actually, you know, going in and asking for equal pay, and asking for equal rights, and demanding to be treated better in the workplace. That’s who she is.”
The Sheryl Sandberg, keep-to-the-status-quo faux feminism that Moss is touting aside, what’s really telling about Peggy’s status as a mainstream “feminist icon” is Peggy’s views on the Civil Rights Movement that we get to see in Season 4 episode 9, “The Beautiful Girls”. Here, she complains to her future love interest Abe, that she’s got it just as bad as the “Negroes” do–if not worse:
“I have to say, most of the things Negroes can’t do, I can’t do either, and nobody seems to care. Half of the meetings take place over golf, tennis, in a bunch of clubs where I’m not allowed to be a member, or even enter. The University Club said the only way I could eat dinner there is if I arrived in a cake.”
Abe points out to the oblivious Peggy, “There are no Negro copywriters, you know.” Her response? “I’m sure they could fight their way in just like I did.” Way to reduce the Civil Rights Movement from Black people being terrorized and murdered by racist terrorists to an inability to gain a golf club membership. Who are we kidding? Go ahead and hone in on the “real issue,” Peggy: White women problems. SPOILER ALERT: Peggy will later stab Abe in the gut with a steak knife.
Also: In six seasons, there has yet to be a Black copywriter, let alone a significant Black character (though they do make appearances as a busboy whom the show’s lead, Don Draper, can test his ad ideas out on; a mammy for Draper’s kids; an elevator operator who gets falsely accused of theft and fired; a crazy intruder who violates the innocence of Don’s kids, Don’s secretary who gets to take the rest of the day off when MLK is assassinated, a violent thug who beats up and robs Abe; and a violent thug whose armed robbery of Joan and Roger gets them so hot and heavy that in their extra-marital affair, they produce little Kevin. These Black folks are really moving the plot forward!).
Later on in “The Beautiful Girls,” Peggy speaks up against the racist hiring practices of one of the agency’s clients after Abe brings it to her attention. Of course, her concerns are quickly dismissed by Don. But Progressive Peggy can say she tried! Of course, she never mentions her own agency’s racist hiring policies, because, like she’s already said, if her agency is as White as a Pleasantville casting call, it’s simply because the Black folks aren’t trying hard enough to get in. She would never work for racists, ergo the men she works alongside every day and knows very well could not possibly be racists. Because if they were, then maybe she’d have to examine herself, and acknowledge her privilege, and who wants to do that?
Just before the Season 7 premiere, EBONY.COM asked, “Will ‘Mad Men’ Get Any Blacker?” The answer seems to be “Of course not”–at least not in any significant way. Though in the premiere episode, interestingly, we see queen Peggy has gotten herself a new secretary. Guess what? She’s Black! A Negro is finally getting off her lazy tail and fighting her way into the agency–just like Pegs did way back in season 1. #Progress. But of course, as we learned in the season 5 premiere episode, when the agency puts out an ad in the paper pretending to be an equal opportunity employer (simply to show up a rival agency), they have to pay the piper when the agency waiting room is flooded with Black men and women looking for jobs as creatives. Unfortunately, everyone who isn’t applying for a secretarial position is dismissed, and even then, only one woman, Don’s secretary, ends up being hired. There goes your theory, Peggy.
But what is most interesting in all this is not show creator and producer Matthew Weiner’s lack of substantive Black characters on a show chock full of substantive characters; that complaint has been filed many times now over 7 years. What’s interesting is how well Weiner ((un)intentionally?) nails White feminism. The history of “Equality for all! (except only after I get my due–and as long as the racial status quo remains)” feminism is well-documented and is a huge reason why some women of color who believe in and fight for the “social, political and economic equality of the sexes,” still shudder today when they are labeled a “feminist”. No, the marginalization of people of color by White feminists is nothing new. But the celebrating of 1960s Peggy Olson as a modern-day hero of feminism is more spot-on than these critics even realize. The more things change, the more they stay the same. But isn’t that the point?
Your article is somewhat similar to mine. I argue that Peggy Olson isn’t a different kind of feminist – or any kind of feminist. We never see her doing any bread-and-butter activism – things like writing a letter to the editor, calling her Representative and asking him to vote for a women’s rights bill, reading books like The Feminine Mystique of The Church and the Second Sex, joining a group like NOW . . .
Check out my article on feministfever.com – Is Peggy Olson Really a Different Kind of Feminist?
The fact that people think Peggy is a “relatable feminist” shows that they still don’t “get it” on feminism.