Why does betty draper have numb hands

Don was a horrible husband to Betty. First of all, he kept a huge secret about his true identity from her and she also didn't let her have a life of her own. He sabotaged her modeling career and he wouldn't even let her wear her cute yellow bikini. Even though Don's marketing pitches would still be as compelling today as they were back then, he could never get away with being such a strict husband. Betty trusted Don, but she shouldn't have. He even had her therapist spy on her for him, which is a huge violation of her privacy.

Betty wasn't a great wife either, but at least she always stood by his side. Betty hated being a housewife. She was bored, lonely, and frustrated. Even her children didn't bring her much joy.

Instead, she felt as if she was constantly waging a war with them: "I am here with them all day, alone and outnumbered", she complained to Don regarding their children. Because she didn't enjoy her chores as a housewife, she also didn't have any real friends. When she met the divorced neighbor, she said she pitied her, but she was actually jealous of her.

When Mad Men first began, a woman's place was at home, but as the show continued, more and more women were seen bucking this tired old idea.

While Peggy was the odd one out in the beginning, it was Betty who seemed like she belongs to another time by the time the show wrapped up. That's what's even more tragic than Betty's housewife status: even though she hated it, she didn't want to change either. Well, she did go to college to pursue a degree in psychology, but it was already too late by then.

Betty went from being a daughter straight to being a wife, which wasn't that uncommon in the sixties. After all, Trudy also married Pete while still maintaining a very close relationship with her parents. After marrying Don, she assumed the socially prescribed role of a housewife.

When she finally divorced him and had a chance to re discover herself, she instead rushed into her second marriage. My therapist pointed out that it was a great remedy to my anger; my hands wanted to hit something or really, my boss , and instead they picked up the phone and took positive action toward change.

Oh, I understand why Betty did it and why it made sense to her, and why she even feels betrayed by Helen, and I've even suggested Betty felt it to be okay because of the movies of that time, and that it was a very movie star thing to do… but I would have been creeped out in Helen's place, too.

I love the shot of Betty sitting on Helen's couch right after she sends Glen to bed with her lock of hair. She's sitting like a little girl, with kind of a bemused grin on her face. She identifies with this eight-year-old and her body language becomes that of a little girl herself.

One of my all-time favorites …. There seems to be some confusion about "The Slap. Helen on the other hand is marginalized as a scandalous divorcee who is weird for taking walks, but seems rational especially in contrast with Betty. Since Betty is the main character I think some people assume her point of view. In my opinion Helen was completely right to hesitantly confront Betty about the hair she gave Glenn. However Betty rationalized it, doesn't change the fact that she was encouraging a kid to lust after her.

The slap itself seemed to be thrown in anger but without conviction. Betty then gives Helen a "How Dare You" stare and starts to walk away but quickly becomes embarrassed and runs out abandoning her cart. Betty is also the one who turn this confrontation in to a "public scene" by slapping Helen. I don't know that anyone accused Helen of being a bitch, it was simply a matter of having some understanding for why Betty slapped her.

Helen clearly did nothing wrong, and in fact, took measures to protect her child—discussed with the ex-husband, and laid down some rules about not to speak to Mrs.

I'm just saying that Betty, who genuinely feels that she did nothing wrong, could justify the slap. But underneath the surface, here is a woman Helen who not only represents all her own Betty's hopes and fears, but then kind of 'outs' Betty as being, I dunno, a wack job? Betty feels deeply humiliated. And also is just beginning to get in touch with any sense of negative feelings, including anger.

This combination is the cocktail that leads to the slap. Few things. Meteoric rise to fame? Matt sometimes talks a drop faster than he thinks. Ellelque says:. August 3, at pm. Kay says:. L says:. Deborah Lipp says:.

Darkly says:. Harry says:. Laura Leone says:. Cooper says:. Rondi says:. Roberta Lipp says:. JMyrrh says:. August 15, at pm. Mad News July August 3, After seeing this, she called Don at work and told him she didn't want him to come home. Betty turned to Don when she learned that her father Gene suffered a stroke. She and Don left the children with a neighbor and drove to visit her father; Betty was visibly impatient with both her father's wife Gloria Massey and her brother William.

She and Don were careful to present a united front. At the end of a stressful day, Betty made Don sleep on the floor of the guestroom, but later joined him on the floor to make love. The next morning, Betty's father mistook Betty for her mother Ruth, grabbing her breast and suggesting that they "go upstairs. Betty discovered she was pregnant around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Although she brought up the subject of abortion with her doctor, and also had sex with a random man at a bar, she asked Don to return home and told him that she was pregnant.

He was infatuated with her, and though she seemed reluctant to return his feelings, their emotional affair intensified, though Betty eventually ended it, feeling guilty.

In the spring of , she gave birth to Eugene Scott Draper, whom she named after her recently deceased father. In November, Don was cornered by Betty, who managed to unearth evidence of Don's secret past life via pictures and documents from a locked drawer in his desk. He told her about his life as Dick Whitman, how he came to exchange dog tags with Lieutenant Don Draper, and Adam's suicide. While apparently somewhat sympathetic to his feelings of guilt about the latter, Betty is highly conflicted about the fact that Don hid this aspect of his life from her for the duration of their relationship and marriage.

After President Kennedy's death and Margaret Sterling 's wedding, Betty met with Henry Francis , who confessed to her that he wished to eventually marry her.

They passionately kiss, and after the encounter, Betty returned home to tell Don she no longer loved him, leaving him stunned and distraught. This culminated in her seeing a divorce lawyer. Roger Sterling , whose daughter was a friend of Francis' daughter, unwittingly revealed to Don that Betty was having an affair.

An incensed Don confronted Betty. After calling her a whore, he assured her that she "won't get a nickel" in the ensuing divorce and that he intended to seek sole custody of the children. The next morning, he and Betty told the children of the new arrangement, and both saw the level of damage the end of their marriage would deal to the kids.

After moving into Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce 's new office temporarily, Don called Betty and told her that he would not fight her, and wished her the best. She then traveled to Reno with baby Gene and Henry to get a quickie divorce. Almost a year after Betty and Don Draper 's divorce, both she and Henry Francis were still living in Don's home, a house he was still paying for. Don declared that if they did not move out soon, he would need to start collecting rent.

After Don left, Henry told Betty that he agreed with Don and that it was time for Betty to start looking for a house, and was promptly rebuffed by Betty. Henry's mother Pauline Francis did not approve of Betty, who made a bad impression at Thanksgiving dinner when she tried to force Sally Draper to eat the food that was being served. Glen Bishop told Sally that Betty and Don would never get back together, but that Betty and Henry would decide to move soon.

While the family was out of the house, Glen and a friend trashed the house. Henry searched the house, to find the rest of the house trashed. Upon seeing that Sally dramatically cut her hair while under the supposed care of Don she did it in the bathroom while she was being babysat , Betty slapped her. Henry tried to tell Betty that young girls do these sorts of things, taking memories from his own time raising his now grown daughter, to which Betty called him soft.

After Sally was caught masturbating at a friends house, Henry suggested professional help. Betty confessed to a shocked and speechless Henry that at one point she saw a psychiatrist. Sally ran away, and was brought to Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce by a kind woman. Don called Betty to tell her what happened, though Betty was unwilling to come pick up Sally at that time. She told Don that she would pick her up the following day.

When it came time for her to return home with her mother, Sally made a scene, but eventually left the office quietly with her mother. Don acquired Beatles tickets from Harry Crane for Sally, much to her delight. By this point Betty appeared moderately cordial with Don.