by Stephanie Bernhard

Family Values vs. Philandering Suicidal Mothers

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In the days before most Western women could control the size of their families, obtain no-fault divorces, or achieve financial freedom, a magnificent breed of novels portrayed the lives of spirited women who beat helplessly against the societal walls that confined them.

Through a Traumatic Cultural Seam: Mad Men and Downton Abbey

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While Mad Men and Downton Abbey might fetishize a decadent or politically incorrect past, they take equal pleasure in portraying — even idealizing — the rise of new cultural choices and values.