The Mad Men Effect
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THE MAD MEN EFFECT SIXTIES-BASED MEDIA CONTENT AND THE RISE OF RETRO-SEXISM A thesis presented by Julianne J. Pipoly To the Department of Communication Studies of the University of Michigan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honors April 2012 Advisors: Professor Nicholas Valentino, Ph.D. (Communication Honors Advisor) and Professor Susan J. Douglas, Ph.D. (Principal Thesis Advisor) ii PIPOLY © JULIANNE PIPOLY 2012 All Rights Reserved iii PIPOLY DEDICATION I would like to dedicate my Honors Senior Thesis to my wonderful parents, Daniel and Cynthia Pipoly. They continuously encourage me to chase my dreams, accomplish my goals, and never give up. Without their constant love and support, not only this Honors Thesis, but my entire education at Michigan would not have been possible. Thank you mom and dad for always believing in me! iv PIPOLY ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, thank you to both of my magnificent advisors, Nicholas Valentino and Susan Douglas, for their extensive guidance and encouragement throughout the past year. They both devoted immense amounts of time and energy to advising, editing, and, most importantly, encouraging me as I conducted my research. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to work so closely with two of the most intelligent people I have ever met. I would like to express my gratitude to my Honors Thesis Advisor Professor Nicholas Valentino for his tireless help from the beginning to the end. Thank you for accommodating my lofty, ever changing ideas, and helping me to focus in on the specific topics of my research, even when I wanted to test everything under the sun, in every possible way. I am deeply indebted to you for the time you spent diligently assisting me and I am grateful for your enthusiasm not only to my individual project, but to the entire honors program. This thesis would not have come to fruition without your support, guidance, and encouragement throughout every step of the way. Thank you to my Principal Thesis Advisor Professor Susan Douglas, both for her brilliant ideas expressed in her books Where the Girls Are and Enlightened Sexism, which served as the foundation for my thesis, and for her assistance throughout the process of this thesis. Thank you for devoting so much time to discussing my thesis with me, despite your impossibly busy schedule. It means so much to me that in the midst of all your obligations, you made my work a priority. The opportunity to work with such an intelligent, thought-provoking woman will always be remembered, and you will continue to serve as a role model and inspiration in my life. A special thank you to Cheryl Erdmann, the Communication Studies Advisor, for helping me from beginning to end in my academic career at Michigan. You were the first warm welcome v PIPOLY I received after transferring to Michigan, and you made it possible for me, not only to graduate on time, but also to be admitted into the honors program. Without your help and encouragement none of this would have been possible. I hope you know how appreciated you are! Thank you to my always-supportive family, friends, and classmates. My parents, Cynthia and Daniel Pipoly, who first urged me to take on entering the honors program, provided me with guidance through every step of this project. Most of all, I am thankful for your unconditional love and support, which kept me striving to achieve my goals even in the most stressful moments. Thank you to my brother, Josef, a student at Miami University, for assisting me with data analysis and research. I truly appreciate the time you took and your recognition of all my hard work! Thank you to my fellow classmates and friends in the Honors Program, who gave insightful feedback, guidance, and moral support throughout the writing of this thesis. I especially want to thank Katie Bies, who read my thesis in its entirety with a smile on her face. Thank you all for helping me to get through this last year! It would have been impossible to write this thesis without relying heavily on the work of many other researchers. While all the books, theories, and articles I relied on are listed in my references, I owe a special thank you again to Susan Douglas for her work on understanding feminist attitudes in the context of contemporary media. I would also like to thank you the Department of Communications for supplying the Claude Sifritt Award, which funded my research. Finally, thank you to the 431 people, many of whom are University of Michigan students, who responded to my survey about television exposure and gender roles. I would also like to thank the ten students who participated in my focus group, many of whom shared details about their personal lived and intimate beliefs. Each of you played the most fundamental role as the willing subjects of my research. vi PIPOLY ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between exposure to various types of portrayals of women in television—retro-sexism, enlightened sexism, and embedded feminism—and attitudes towards women and gender roles. This thesis mainly hypothesized that exposure to 1960s retro- sexist content in television shows such as Mad Men and Pan Am would be associated with sexist attitudes and a belief that gender equality has been fully achieved. Subjects were 431 men and women drawn from college students and Amazon Mechanical Turk. A survey measured exposure to media content, attitudes about programing, and gender attitudes. A focus group of students who reported consistently watching 1960s based content was also performed. Results of the survey revealed that men exposed to 1960s based content expressed more sexist attitudes towards women, particularly hostile attitudes, and less progressive attitudes about gender roles. Those who watched 1960s based content were also significantly more likely to believe gender equality had been achieved, and had more accepting attitudes about rape, sexual assault, and violence. The focus group revealed that those with exposure to retro-sexism hold a strong appreciation for current rights among women. However, they also expressed a naive delusion that problems confronting women, such as sexual and physical violence, unequal pay, and job placement, were a thing of the past. Survey results also revealed that exposure to enlightened sexist content, which depicts women in sexist or stereotypical roles, correlated with more sexist attitudes and less progressive views about women, while embedded feminist content, which depicts women in successful and powerful roles, correlated with more egalitarian views about women, less hostile sexism, and less accepting attitudes about sexual and physical violence towards women. The theoretical and social implications of these findings are discussed. vii PIPOLY TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication..................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iv Abstract......................................................................................................................................... vi Introduction....................................................................................................................................1 Literature Review ..........................................................................................................................5 Embedded Feminism and Enlightened Sexism..........................................................................................5 Ambivalent Sexism ...................................................................................................................................8 Desensitization.........................................................................................................................................10 Social Learning Theory............................................................................................................................11 Retro-Sexism ...........................................................................................................................................12 Mad Men Content Analysis .....................................................................................................................13 Hypotheses....................................................................................................................................19 Methods.........................................................................................................................................21 Procedures................................................................................................................................................21 Media Case Selection...............................................................................................................................21 Sample......................................................................................................................................................31 Survey Measurements..............................................................................................................................35 Independent Variables .........................................................................................................................35 Dependent Variables............................................................................................................................44