10 most feminist moments in Mad Men’s 1960s sea of misogyny

Mad Men still, image via AMC

Dawn Chambers becomes the first woman of color to move up the ranks

Of course, given the time in history, Mad Men was eventually going to have to address the Civil Rights Movement. For the first four seasons, Mad Men got away with being a fairly sexist, white-washed story, so it was interesting to see how women—but moreover, women of color—would play a larger role in the series. Also, with Dawn, we get maybe the first major female character to work at the agency and not strike up an affair with any of her male counterparts. I’m not sure but Dawn might pass The Bechdel Test!

The first people of color to work at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce were Dawn Chambers, and a girl named Shirley (oddly enough, this character had no last name). Some executives at a competing agency, Young & Rubicam, were caught throwing water balloons at black protesters during a march. SCDP capitalized on this egregious act, and upped the ante by advertising themselves as an equal opportunity employer. They did not expect the onslaught of African American applicants that that ad would bring. But SCDP had to keep their word, so Dawn and Shirley were hired.

Dawn eventually became a powerful and dedicated worker at SCDP, even though she was moved around a lot at the behest of various higher-ups (at one point, Bertram Cooper expressed dismay at the fact that she was manning the reception desk for the whole office, stating that he’s “all for the national advancement of colored people, but I do not believe they should advance all the way to the front of this office.”). In spite of roadblocks like this, Dawn persevered and remained committed to the company. Of course, Joan eventually took note of this commitment and promoted Dawn to her old position of Office Manager. Dawn is a humble character, but also strong, and it is a breath of fresh air to have her in the latter half of the series.