Money Equals Masculinity

During our masculinity discussion, we have come to the conclusion that there are many different attributes men can have to be considered "manly." Men with big muscles are strong and they can protect women, funny men can entertain women, while intellectual men can provide stimulating conversation. Out of all of these types of men, however, the type of man that is seemed to be the most desirable is the successful man, or one with money. 


The show Mad Men on AMC has become a new obsession of mine. Mad Men is a show about a thriving adverting agency based out of Manhattan. The main character, Don Draper, is the object of affection for pretty much all of the female characters on the show. While he is extremely handsome and sexy, the thing that gets him most of the ladies is the fact that he is successful. He is the head of the creative department for the agency at which he works, and he definitely looks the part. He always dresses in a suit, eats at expensive restaurants, and drives a nice car. This shows to the female characters on the show that this man has money and is successful. While I am not saying that this character wouldn't get attention from ladies just on his looks or personality alone, the fact that he looks like he has money definitely makes women swoon over him. 

This message that this is giving to the viewers is that he who has the most money will have the most girls. While it is not a bad thing to be driven to want to be successful, a man’s goal to have money should not be to attract females. If a man just wants to have money for female attention, then they are going to attract the wrong kind of female