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My wife Jenny gave the first season of the TV series "Mad Men" for my birthday last month. I had heard quite a bit about the show from friends and coworkers over the past several years, and about half way through the first season, I can see why they liked it.

While a lot of the focus in the show (Set in late 1950's or early 1960's Manhattan) is on the leading man's relationships with other women, I think it's also interesting to get a peak into the family dynamics that were the norm around the time. While the role of "woman as home maker" is one that most people are familiar with, the role that the main character "Don" plays in the family is something that catches my attention every time we sit down for a new episode.

He is, for the most part, an absentee father who plays little if any role in the raising of his children and has no noticeable responsibility when it comes to housekeeping. The little time he does spend with his kids seems to be when he tucks them in on the nights he's actually returned home after a day of drinking scotch and sleeping with other women.

A lot of attention - rightfully so - has been given to the evolution of the "modern" women who no longer spends her days prepping dinner and her hair in anticipation of hubby's return from a long day at the office, but instead is right out there with him (or ahead of him as is becoming more and more common) earning an income and "bringing home the bacon" for the family. "You've come a long way baby" from the world of "Mad Men" in the last 50 years indeed.

But I think one thing that deserves more attention than what it gets is how the modern father has evolved from our "Mad Men" ancestors. Watching the show and reading about the lifestyle of the time, it's hard to believe that most of us are only a generation or two at most removed from our scotch swilling, "child rearing is for the women" forefathers.

I realize it's important not to generalize an entire generation of fathers by the recollection of the generation that followed it. But the fact is that a father who cooked, cleaned or - heaven forbid - ironed their own shirts 50 years ago would have almost certainly been a very rare exception and been ridiculed and mocked by his manly men peers.

Just like their wives, modern men are expected to give everything it takes to raise a family and run a house. Our responsibility no longer stops with dishing out punishment and complimenting our wives on a swell pot roast at the end of the day.

Both parties are now expected to contribute in ways that our parents didn't, and for my generation at least, it's no longer a question of being the "good guy" who does chip in here and there around the house or the "good wife" whose sole domain is the kitchen and laundry room.

I'm enjoying the "Mad Men" series a lot so far. On top of the entertainment and "you've got to be kidding me moments" it provides (play space man with a plastic bad over your head kids!), it's also a sobering look at how far the modern American family has come in 50 short years.