Mad men is an american dramatic television series set in the 1960's. The first series premiered in 2007 and is currently up to 4 series with a 5th coming out later this year. The main focus of the series is on the main charecter Don Draper; he is the typical hegemonic male who is dominating and iconic.
Reasons for Mad Men's popularity?
It gives males something to relate to or escape to.
Men want to be Don, or any of the other males because of their popularity with the ladies.
Target Audience - Why?
The main target audience will be males as the men will loook up to or relate to the men in the series especially Don as he is the typical hegemonic male.
Some women, as there are alot of men to look at.
People who lived in or enjoy the 1960's
Don Draper
As we can tell, Don offers the idea of a perfect male. He is very attractive. We can tell by his suit that he has a well paid job and is quite high up in society. The way he is sitting in this image suggests how dominant and confident he is with himself. This
The oedipus complex is a term used by Sigmund Freud in his theory of psychosexual stages of development. The name oedipus comes from the greek charecter 'oedipus' who kills his father. The complex describes a boys feelings for his mother and the jealousy and anger towards his mother. Essentially, a boy feels like he is in competition with his fatherfor posession of his mother. He views his father as a rival for her attentions and affections. In order to develop into a successful adult with a healthy identity, the child must identify with the same sex parent in order to resolve the conflict. Freud suggested that while the primal i.d wants to eliminate the father, the more realistic ego knows the father is much stronger. According to Freud, the boy then experienced what he called castration anxiety - a fear of both literal and figurative emasculation. Freud believed that the child becomes aware of the physical differences between male and female and he assumes the females penis has been removed and that the father will castrate him as a pu nishment for not desiring his mother.
According to Connells theorythere are four different types of masculinity... Hegemonic - Male supremacy; power & authority, hetrosexuality, aggression, 'laddish' culture, can be macho and sexist. Subordinate - a masculintiy associated with gay men who are stereotypically viewed as behaving differently to the expectations of the dominant hegemonic male. Marginalised - Labour market has meant they can no longer assume theres will be jobs for them after school, leaving many with a crisis, sense of loss and disconnectedness. Complicit - Amasculinity which new men for example, might be said to adopt taking in on a shared role in the family.
