Fascination with the 60s

Not sure where I'll go with this, but I am really enjoying the revived interest in the 60s generated by MAD MEN (and book clubs recommending Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson). My problem is that for those of us who lived the 60s as "formative years" (I was born in 1953), the present in the show is prelude to our past and long past history to our present.

The lack of choices for women in MadMen is more disappointing because we know how much has changed but I worry how little has been accomplished. Women have infinite choices today, but children are often just one of them. I've started a new venture offering my "sitting services" to professional women as a 'last minute mom'. I realized that I enjoyed children and flexibility, so this would be a useful way to combine my need to fill my time productively with my preference for doing things I want to do. The hard part is how MANY women call themselves "stay at home moms" who in fact want childcare help every day....

Mad Men comments on Jacqueline Kennedy that women would hate her as the better looking sister who married better than you....but we all know that turned out not to be true. Women wanted to BE Jacqueline Kennedy as she spoke multiple languages, raised two children (and publicly endured fertility issues), and had the perfect home and lived in Camelot. With history as prelude, we conveniently forget that Jackie had a philandering husband (See Don Draper, Roger Sterling and Pete in Mad Men). When she lost her husband, Jackie sold out to Aristotle O to preserve her lifestyle (or presumably that played a role in the decision making).

So -- when we look at the limited choices for women in Mad Men - housewives (Betty and Roger's wife --interesting term ...), career women (Rachel), working girls (Joan and Peggy), young wives (Pete's wife Trudy and others by reference only) -- we see limited options but clear expectations. So what's changed? The options aren't limited, but aren't the expectations the same?

So let's talk 60s.....Thoughts?