"You have big ones. My mommy has big ones too.
And I'm going to have big ones when I grow up."
-Sally Draper, Mad Men Season 2
If anyone asks, (and no one does) I would say Sally Draper is my favorite character. I feel a personal kinship with her because she reminds me of myself, and Betty reminds me of my mom. The relationship between Betty and Sally is too similar to mine with my mother. It almost creeps me out.
From my understanding, (I only started watching Mad Men recently) this show isn't seen as being completely feminist. My boyfriend thought I wouldn't like it because of the comments that are made and the way the women are treated. He pretty much said that only Peggy Olson is seen as feminist on the show. I find this to be completely wrong. For the most part, all the women stand up for themselves, they treat each other with respect, and they do what they can with what they have. I recommend this show to women who want feminism to be about respect and equality, but not to women who think of feminists as being women who hate men.
My love of Sally, and my decision that she is ultimately my hero came from the ending of Season 5. Sally tries to go on a date, but gets her period for the first time so she ends up running home. The look on her face made me want to cry and laugh at the same time. I was so worried about her. I loved that she just went home. Betty proved me wrong for a moment, she held her daughter and spoke to her about her period like Sally was an adult. She didn't shame Sally, or make Sally feel embarassed about it (and that's more than my own mother can say about my first period). In that moment of Betty consoling Sally about her fear and worry about becoming a woman I saw Betty as a good mother. But then Betty turned it around to prove that she is a good mother to Megan, with whom Betty is having a one-sided competition.
Sally became a woman, and the writers of Mad Men told us in a way that I found inspirational as a writer and as a woman.
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