Quick Hit: Mad Men in 2012

At The American Prospect, Amanda Marcotte connects Mad Men’s revival with the shift in political conversations around sexism during its hiatus, and how that will affect its audience:

The last episode, “Tomorrowland”, aired in October 2010. Since then, we’ve seen a midterm election sweep Republicans into power in both Congress and across state governments, and their number one priority has been to return us to the social structures oppressing Joan, Betty, and Peggy. We’ve seen unprecedented attacks on abortion rights, some of which would, if successful, make abortion harder and more dangerous to get than it was in the 60s. Republicans have declared war on hormonal birth control, even trying to make it legal for your employer to fire you for using it as contraception. Even on Mad Men, Peggy was able to get a birth control prescription with only a lecture from the doctor, but not from her employer.

Check it.

P.S. While we’re on the subject, we’ll soon be re-launching Feministing’s Mad Men series which will dive into last night’s premiere, so make sure to look out for it!