Peggy Olson and women since 1972

Women vs. men seemed to pop up in the last week across my media, so to speak. First on Mad Men, Peggy asks Don to pay her as much as her male co-worker, to which he says, “Now is not the time.” Peggy’s character sits awaiting the arrival of the Betty Friedan era- she’s the only non-secretarial female at Sterling Cooper, at least that we have met, and despite new laws that entitle her to a higher salary, the management isn’t ready for it.

In Arianna Huffington’s recent post on her eponymous site, "The Sad, Shocking Truth About How women Are Feeling," she introduces a new huff post contributor, Marcus Buckingham, who will examine over a series of pieces the sad and surprising truth about the declining happiness of women since the women's movement of the 60s and 70s.

If we compare Peggy to women today, one might imagine, and Buckingham suggests that even Betty Friedan herself, would imagine that women today must be happier because of all the advances we have made across employment, politics, education, etc. But in fact, according to the US General Social Survey evaluating the happiness of women beginning in 1972, women have assigned a generally decreasing value to their happiness over time.

While Buckingham’s first post presents mostly data, which I assume he will analyze and try to explain, and then hopefully hypothesize about today or the future in upcoming posts, you can’t help but wonder why it’s true that happiness is declining among women. Is it because we no longer wonder and wish for acknowledge of what we can do, but now wonder what we’re not doing and why?

While women’s rights and general equality was just starting to take shape in this season of Mad Men, in some ways though we women might be jealous of Peggy: brave enough to ask her boss for a raise, she has multiple opportunities, seemingly limitless ambitions, and nowhere to go but up. These days, when down seems to be the only direction, what I wouldn’t give for a little ambition and a healthy dose of naivete.