Rachel Johnston

          Mad Men is a popular television show with seven seasons on AMC.  It takes place in 1960’s New York at a well renowned ad agency, “Sterling Cooper”.  The main producers of the show are Matthew Weiner, Scott Hornbacher, and Andre Jacquemetton.   In total, there are thirty-nine producers with eleven females and twenty eight males.  Hombacher is a white male and produced the majority of the episodes as well as other small television shows.  Weiner is a white male who has produced other television shows such as The Sopranos alongside Hombacher.  Jacquemetton is the third most active producer and is a white male that has worked on other shows as well.  The three predominant producers are all middle aged, heterosexual, white males.  The creator of the show is Matthew Weiner who is also the main producer.  He is a middle aged, married, white male from Baltimore.  He is also a writer and director for Mad Men, The Sopranos, and other shows.  Finally, the distributor of the show is Lionsgate Television.
          Mad Men is a show that encapsulates all types of people and personalities in the real world and creates characters with those traits.  I was immediately intrigued by the show and it allows me to completely forget the outside world and feel connected to the characters.  I chose to write about Mad Men for the reasons above, as well as to dissect and discuss a character that I am fond of, Salvatore Romano, the art director at the agency.  He is a homosexual male who struggles with the pressure of society telling him that he has to be masculine and heterosexual.  It is evident that he is attracted to males but he makes sure his colleagues do not know of this and marries a woman to avoid scrutiny.  In addition, he is fired when the company’s biggest client, a homosexual male, makes a sexual move for him, and he refuses to act on it as he is married, and closeted.  In the end, his refusal to express and accept his sexuality leads to his demise.
          Salvatore is a very typical representation of a homosexual male.  He dresses nicely, is focused on how he looks at all times, is flamboyant, and speaks with a softer and higher pitched voice.  His male colleagues on the other hand, are hyper-masculine, rough, and degrade and sexually discuss women.  In the article, “Acting Gay: Male Actors Shift the Frequency Components of Their Voices Towards Female Values when Playing Homosexual Characters,” by Valentina Cartei, a study was conducted to see whether male actors portraying homosexual male characters alter their voices to fit the stereotype of homosexual males having feminine voices.  The result was that male actors did alter their voices to match society’s view of homosexual males having softer voices.  This is one of the stereotypes seen in Salvatore’s character and the actor portrays him with a distinctly softer and higher pitched voice compared to all of the other male characters.
          In addition, Salvatore has other stereotypes of being attracted to significantly younger men and is unrealistically flamboyant.  In the article, “Media Literacy Art Education: Deconstructing Lesbian and Gay Stereotypes in the Media,” by Sheng Kuan Chung, common stereotypes homosexual male characters have in media are discussed.  For example, they are often portrayed as being: “obsessed with beauty and fashion; idolize the young, handsome and masculine” (Chung, p. 4).  This article discusses how most homosexual portrayals are cookie cutter and are seen across the board in all media.  Specifically, in Mad Men, Salvatore is obsessed with the way he looks and always appears nicer than the other men, is attractive and wealthy, and is attracted to men younger than him.  This stereotype, as well as others, are outlandish and frustrating in that they do not accurately portray homosexual men in the real world.
          Overall, the representation of Salvatore as a homosexual male is inaccurate and highly stereotyped.  He is flamboyant, enjoys and appreciates more feminine things such as art and music, speaks in a distinctly higher pitched voice, and is attractive and wealthy. In the article, “Using Objectification Theory to Examine the Effects of Media on Gay Male Body Image,” by Nicholas Lanzieri, homosexual male characters are typically attractive and buff and negatively impact homosexual viewers with their unrealistic body standard.
          In addition, as a closeted homosexual, Salvatore attempts to be masculine by joining conversations about sexualizing women, attends gatherings at strip clubs, and hides his sexuality to the best of his ability.  Also, the absence of realistic homosexual characters in this show are prevalent.  There is a minor homosexual female character that is butch and dresses like a man, Salvatore who is flamboyant but tries to hide his sexuality, along with another minor homosexual male who is very open about his sexuality and is feminine.  These three characters are all white, well off, and attractive, and the show has a clear absence of realistic homosexual characters of different race and economic standings.
          The production of the show is primarily composed of white, middle aged, heterosexual males.  Some females are involved and comprise of approximately 1/3 of the total work force for the show.  In addition, I could not find a study that discusses the consumption patterns of Mad Men, but I predict it to be 18-30 yea-old viewers due to the drama level and similar characters of that age in the show.
          In conclusion, Mad Men is a popular television show that portrays homosexual characters very poorly and overly stereotypes them to be flamboyant, or butch.  This show is significant in that it has a major homosexual, closeted male, who struggles to hide his sexuality in the judgmental times of 1960.  He hides behind the pressure to be masculine and gets married to a woman to avoid being scrutinized.  In my opinion, this theme of masculinity and being afraid to come out is prevalent and realistic as male homosexuals still have pressure to be masculine and today’s society is not majorly accepting of people of that sexuality.  Overall, it is great that the show has a main homosexual character, but he is portrayed predominately through stereotypes.


References
Cartei, Valentina, and David Reby. "Acting Gay: Male Actors Shift the Frequency Components of Their Voices Towards Female Values when Playing Homosexual Characters." Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 36.1 (2012): 79-93.

Chung, Sheng Kuan. "Media Literacy Art Education: Deconstructing Lesbian and Gay Stereotypes in the Media." International Journal of Art & Design Education, 26.1 (2007): 98-107.

Lanzieri, Nicholas, and Tom Hildebrandt. "Using Objectification Theory to Examine the Effects of Media on Gay Male Body Image." Clinical Social Work Journal, 44.1 (2016): 105-113.
 

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