Hipsters always wax annoying about how the circa-Mad Men decades were a time when men were really men. They smoked until their lungs bled the colors of the American flag, they drank until their livers were as fatty as the oil-rich plains of Texas, they were greeted by pot roast and wifey foot massages after a long day of "bringing home the bacon," and, best of all, they wore cool suits. Because if you aren't willing to sacrifice your life—literally—for the vices bestowed upon you by this country, you might as well look the part.
While Don Draper quickly took note of that after his unimpressive stint as impoverished, abused farm boy loser Dick Whitman, Roger Sterling and Pete Campbell were born into being "manly men" after years of suckling at the silver teats of their mothers. All of them became men during that era where the powerful ideal of the American dream was offset by the struggle it took to actually attain it.
Whether you believe the leading men of the show are good role models or not, these 10 Things We Learned About Being A Man From Mad Men will aide you in self-exploration and likley use some form of reverse-psychology to lure you into drinking a handle of whiskey and sleeping with your hot neighbor before tonight's Season 6 finale at 10 p.m. It's not our fault. Blame it on series creator Matthew Weiner.
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