CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014

Justina Mintz/ AMC SHOWS LIKE “Mad Men” hearken to a time when sexism was out in force, but it’s not at all in the past. ENMITY TOWARD WOMEN NOT IN PAST By Mary McNamara TELEVISION CRITIC

t’s a long way from “Lysistrata” but in Times’ first female editor in chief, amid re- recent weeks, more than 2,400 years ports that she had been paid less than her male since Aristophanes gave voice to female predecessors launched a renewed discussion I discontent in a patriarchal society, the of pay equity and the double standard many gender wars erupted once again in ways both women leaders still face. refreshingly modern and disquietingly famil- Several well-publicized rape and sexu- iar. al assault cases caused many to protest the Discontent with society’s still-narrow fe- state of sexual hostility on college campuses, male beauty standard, set to simmer in the where rape, assault and harassment are often last few years by performers including Amy under-repor ted or hand led by campus author- Schumer, Melissa McCarthy, Mindy Kaling ities rather than police. The increase of sexual and Lena Dunham, boiled over following Sar- violence on television, meanwhile, prompted ah Baker’s now famous fat-girl’s lament on an some viewers and critics to question the use of episode of “Louie.” rape as a narrative device. The firing of Jill Abramson, the New York Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday Critic’s Notebook created a media dust-up by suggesting that Hollywood’s worship of frat-boy mentality, and its attendant portrayal of women as trophies that every man deserves, might have contributed to the horrific shootings in Isla Vista. Even this year’s reshuffling of late- night shows sparked high words when it became clear that no female replace- ment for Jay Leno or David Letterman was even in the running. Every question, protest or, in the Chris Keane/ Getty Images JILL ABRAMSON’S firing from the New case of “Louie,” celebration was met York Times provoked a round of discussion, with passionate and often furious re- controversy. sponse from both sides of the issue, fueled in part by the rush-to-judgment that Grace” or for that matter “Girls,” only to wash social media now facilitates, but also the very its hands of more destructive attitudes. real sense that these issues are not the nostal- The recent revelations about rape and gia pieces many of our popular period dramas other violence against women, and the often would have us believe. outrageous ways in which they are dealt with In recent years, we’ve grown comfortable on college campuses shocked many, including viewing the realities of sexism from a dis- President Obama, out of a vague assumption tance. We watch shows like “Mad Men” and that sexual violence against women is no lon- “Masters of Sex” with self-righteous outrage ger the problem it once was. — when will Joan realize she’s got twice the Likewise suggestions that Abramson had business mind of any man around and how been fired for protesting an inequitable sal- dare William Masters pay Virginia Johnson ary (which denies), or so little and then take credit for her ideas! for a managerial style that might have been But as “Mad Men” inches to its close, it acceptable in a man, caused many women to may well overlap with the current news cycle, raise their heads from their cubicles and look which hearkens more and more to the mid- around their own workplaces for discrepan- ’80s, with its Take Back the Night marches, cies that still exist (women make, on average, letters-to-the-editor campaigns against those 77 cents to a man’s dollar) but no longer fuel Calvin Klein Obsession ads and rise of a reac- the political conversation. tionary men’s movement. The good news is we’re talking about it, For those who took part in those marches, and with a speed and diversity of voice once it is dispiriting to see how many of these prob- impossible to imagine. lems still plague us, and how deeply they have Social media, despite its oft-deserved been buried under assumptions that they do reputation for cyberbullying, is a huge factor not. in this renaissance of socio-political debate. Whether or not a “frat boy” mentality was News events and opinions from all over the at work, there is no denying the misogyny of world can be shared instantly by everyone; Elliot Rodger’s UCSB-focused rampage; in you don’t have to be a member of the main- chilling videos, he revealed a murderous ha- stream or even outlier media for your voice to tred for the women who “rejected” him, par- be heard. Earlier this year a argument ticularly the sort of beautiful blond and pop- over the role of “provocative” clothing in rape ular women so often used as pat symbols of (yes, these arguments still occur) led to hun- cruelty and/or sexual worthiness in film and dreds of women tweeting photos of what they television. were wearing when they were raped. In the To argue that entertainment does not im- wake of the Isla Vista killings, women from all pact culture is absurd. Hollywood doesn’t get over the world shared their fears, outrage and to take credit for breaking ground with films experiences with sexism on #yesallwomen. such as “Philadelphia” and shows like “Will & This instant access can be deceiving; con-

ENMITY TOWARD WOMEN NOT IN PAST | SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014 2 Critic’s Notebook troversy is so much easier to foment and cat- early abolitionists, a group of fed-up drag egorize when it consists mainly of blog posts queens at the Stonewall Inn or online fans of and retweets. As comforting and informative Louis C.K., is where change begins. It is prob- as it may be to watch social progress play out ably no accident that we are discussing issues in the personal lives of characters on “Down- formerly known as feminist at a time when ton Abbey” or “Mad Men,” those changes it seems quite possible we will soon have a didn’t occur organically, they were the result female candidate for the presidency. of sustained and often violent protest. Twit- In many ways the 1980s are distant as Ly- ter is a platform, not a movement. It may have sistrata’s famous protest over the Pelopon- aided the Arab Spring, but it was people in the nesian War; in others it could be yesterday. streets that made it happen. But conversation, whether between the [email protected]

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