My favorite show on TV is Mad Men.
Mad Men fills a void left by The Sopranos going black.
One of the central themes in Mad Men is gender issues in the workplace.
Mad Men makes it easy to look at the Madison Avenue firms in the 1960s and see the gender disparity.
I saw an interview with the show’s creator and Sopranos alum, Matthew Weiner who commented that we like to pretend the issues that exist in Mad Men don’t happen in today’s workplace but the truth is that they do.
Check out this article on the ABA’s website:
The highest earners in 2007 were men in legal occupations, who earned a median salary in 2007 of $105,233, according to a Census Bureau report.
The online report (PDF) issued in August shows women in legal occupations, which includes paralegal as well as lawyer positions, didn’t fare as well. Their median salary was $53,790. As a whole women in computer and mathematical professions earned more, with a median salary of $61,957.
Matthew Weiner is right, the issues addressed in Mad Men are alive and well in today’s legal profession.
Oh and if you’re not watching Mad Men you are missing out.