Everyone seems to assume Betty is used to being very wealthy. Grandpa Gene does not exude class and old wealth. He had the aura of a rough, tough business man who did well but he did not give off an ounce of class.

And this: Betty's brother, William, seems to work in the family business. When his family brought Grandpa Gene to Don and Betty's home, William said, in the bunkbed scene with his wife, that it was bad enough he worked for the old man, he didn't have to take orders from him at home (as he discussed resisting living with the old man, preferring to put him in a home).

So if William is running Gene's old business and if Betty comes from serious wealth -- why wouldn't William also be wealthy?

Betty acts like her wealth comes from her background but Don and Betty's wealth is entirely built on Don's efforts. I am a feminist and I believe Betty contributes to Don's success and that as a legal matter, she owns half of what Don owns (more or less, if she can discover those assets for court purposes) . but Betty runs around as if she herself is weathy and I don't see that.

She acts like she entered the marriage with a huge dowry and that 'her' house, her horse-riding, full-time-maid life is something she made happen . .. and in the sense that she is Don's life partner, she has contributed . .. but in a traditional, cultural sense, nineteen sixty three culture, Betty herself has almost nothing to call her own except for things Don has earned.

I don't see enough fans giving Don credit for turning himself into a very wealthy, self-made man. It's like fans are seeing 'wealthy' and 'social position' through Betty's immature eyes.

Other than look gorgeous, walking on runways in clothes and having sex with Don, Betty has not done anything to 'earn' her wealthy life. .. but she acts like she is more entitled to the accoutrements of the life Don's efforts make possible than Don is, like she is doing him some kind of favor.

She didn't make lots of money when she was modeling . . we know this because she shared a bedroom -- not just an apartment but a bedroom -- with that former roommate turned prostitute she met on Valentine's Day out with Don. Few models, even today, make lots of money, few models can afford to live alone in Manhattan.

I think Betty comes from a middle class family with pretensions and modest wealth.

If she goes for Henry, it is because she thinks he will boost her social standing. And I think he would. Don trots her out, to show her off, in front of rich men. . . like Connie, Henry, various clients who are rich. .. but Henry would take her to balls where Governor Rockefeller hangs out.

And if Henry goes for Betty, proposing to her after such a shallow acquaintance, it is because he is buying her, like a show pony. And if she thinks that's love, she deserves what she gets.

If someone could explain to me why it is reasonable to assume Betty comes from wealth, please do.

Why would it be hard for William to buy half the house if Betty came from big money?

I think the house might be almost the only thing Gene owned when he died. Someone with lots of wealth would also give his kids cash, stock, various assets. But if the only asset is the house, which would explain why William didn't have money to buy Betty's half . . . the ongoing assumption that BEtty comes from money is wrong.

Betty's stance, which reflects the social stance at that time (and I'm not sure it's changed much), is less about wealth but more about CLASS. I think people (including Americans) tend to believe that America is the land of equal opportunity, where "all men are born equal," and Mad Men is subtly revealing the falsehood of the belief (just like a few other myths the series have been exposing).

Remember how JFK was considered "unworthy" of the presidency in 1960 because the Kennedy family was Irish Catholic, while all previous presidents were German or English protestants. His social and class position was hardly higher than a half-black man in 2008, and his win no less shocking, no matter how wealth Joe Kennedy was.

It is a myth that there are no class separation in this country, or that class distinctions are determined on money. Not true. And Mad Men is cutting right to the bone of the matter.

I wasn't aware that anyone thought Betty came from "old money."

I think Betty acts like a woman who thought she married a man with promise. I don't think she came from money. She used to model furs and he wrote copy for a furrier. It's reasonable to assume that's how they met. He wouldn't have been making all that much money. This would have been before he worked for SC. If she was wealthy, she wouldn't have had to make a living modeling. She has referred to the fact that she knew he was poor when they married. If she as truly a gold digger or a spoiled rich girl, why would she have hooked up with a guy with no money or social standing who was writing ad copy for a furrier?

Betty married Don for sex, according to Weiner himself. The back story was not clearly explained, but that's what Weiner said he had drawn up. She was ashamed of it ("marrying for sex").

Betty also said her mother disapproved of her modeling, but she thought it was terribly exciting, especially being the muse of the Italian designer mentioned in Season 1. Season 1 provided a fairly thorough explanation about how Don and Betty met. He saw her modeling a coat and had a hard time taking it off. He asked her out, but she said no. Then 2 weeks later he had the coat sent to her home. It was the gesture of spending a lot of money (relative to his salary at the time) that won Betty over.

No, Betty was not a gold-digger. It is not about money per se.

I never suspected Betty came from old money, or was ever really rich. It is quite apparent that Mean Gene had built a very nice business, and lavished his little princess with plenty, while heaping scorn on little William. So like many upper middle class American women, she grew up with the idea that men owed her. It is eactly the same reason Tizzie believes Betty is entitled Don's money.

Daddy's little feminst princess can never grow up. The men in her life will never live up to her Daddy, so she will go through life bitter and resentful of men, destroying every relationship she enters until she dies an angry, lonely old woman with seven cats and a bathrobe that smells of ammonia. Then there is Betty.

I don't exactly believe Betty is entitled to Don's money, tjcerveza. I often note a misogynistic tone in your responses, at least when you comment on my posts. It often seems like you are angry just because I voice opinions different from yours. Here in America, still kinda free, women can have opinions.

Betty is, legally, entitled to about half of the accumulated marital estate.

I also believe that in a marriage, a partnership, a contractual agreement, the two parties to the contract actually agree to build a shared life. They distribute responsibilities. In 1963, it was common for men to go out and earn money, women to tend the hearth and it was agreed that they were building a life together, building shared assets for their shared life, present and future. So, yes, Betty is entitled to a share of that asset. To think otherwise is to award absolutely no value to Betty's contribution and to give no weight to the shared nature, the contractual, as in AGREED upon, arrangement of sharing the wins and loses of shared lives. It's part of the deal.

Nowadays, people have more opportunity, with prenuptials, to enter into different kinds of agreements.

We may think Betty is childish but she is upholding her end of her deal with Don. Yes, she is entitled to the fruits of the marriage. ABout half.

as to men 'owing' women . . I never suggested such a concept. For you to have impugn, and indirectly implied otherwise (i.e. you imply, by mis-citing me as you did, that Betty is not entitled to any of the assets accumulated during her ten-year contract with Don, even though she has upheld her end) suggests to me that you don't actually place any value on the real work of childbirth, child rearing, community activism, homemaking -- yes, Carla does lots of the grunt work but Betty entertains for Don -- building their shared estate. Betty makes appearances when Don wants to use her beauty to enhance his image. It might be creepy that Betty earns her keep by looking good at banquets . . but Don freely chose that arrangement and he gets what he is paying for.

as far as Betty having 'old money' . . . I am sorry that some commentators were distracted by that phrase . . . but I have seen lots of frayster comments suggesting Betty comes from a hoity toity background with deep pockets. My point was that I don't think she does. Her father was a gruff, hard driving businessman who made a good living and cared about upward mobility and pinned some of his hopes on his daughter.

My point was really related to a consideration of Betty's comment 'that Don doesn't understand how money works' . . . what, does Betty think she understands money? She can't even figure out that she can hire a real estate appraiser to set the sales price for the house to William? And she retains a bumbling family attorney who did not recommend a real estate appraiser. And, apparently, her 'rich' father apparently retained an incompetent attorney for his personal legal needs . . cause that lawyer was another white entitled male ringing up cash receipts for mediocre-to-incompetent advice. A competent estate lawyer would be telling the Betty and William about a real estate appraiser but that guy issued wrong, misinformed bromides. A real lawyer would say "I need to know more before I can give you an opinion" and "I am not licensed in NY State, I need to review the relevant law and ascertain more of the facts of your situation". . but this lawyer was good enough for daddy Gene.

And my point was related to my interest in understanding why, if Betty came from a better family, a richer family, than Don (I know she did, he was dirt poor), and if Gene was so successful, why wouldn't thirty year old William be able to take out a mortgage on his share of the house.

And my point is it looks like the only thing the kids inherited was the house, which is a nice gift but not rich, not by any means. So why does Betty think she 'knows how many works'?

All Betty knows about money is that men give it to her and she spends it. On clothes and furniture: on appearance.

I once suggested that Betty could actually get a job and some fraysters scoffed, ridiculing me, saying 'who would hire her'? If Don wanted his SC colleagues to tap their network and if Don tapped some of his clients -- men like that (with a few women clients) can get jobs, esp. for beautiful women, just by picking up the phone. Lots and lots of people would hire BEtty. And if she were taking self responsibility for her life, she could actually do a good job at something. But who thinks she will? Not me.

Betty did not inherit wealth, but she knows enough about money to know it does not earn interest sitting in a Don's desk drawer.

But was Betty's line to Don about not understanding money meant literally? That is, was she really saying he didn't understand the notion of investing money? Or (and this is my take) was she saying he didn't know how to relate to people who were of "old money"?

If she was wealthy, she wouldn't have had to make a living modeling.

She spent some time after university (Bryn Mawr is not cheap) in Italy, where she met Gianni the fashion designer.

Her NewYork job would be a "trousseau" job while she looked for a husband. No reason to think she needed to work.

And modelling requires only a pretty face, few other qualifications.

I think betty HAD money. And thought bad business decisions, changing times, and william being a bad business person most of it gone or they are in debt. Just like pete family. Old money is good at one thing, making old money disappear.

I think Betty's family was merely prosperous with certain pretentions. She went to Bryn Mawr, but I bet she was first generation there. I can't imagine a "named" family permitting their daughter to marry the likes of Don. Her father did burst out and say "he has no people!" when he was entering the throes of dementia, but I still don't get a heavy old-school WASP vibe from Betty and her brother. Now that I think of it, Betty sounded like she was parroting somebody - perhaps Gene, Sr. - when she said Don didn't understand money.

It may be of note that in the era when Betty would have grown up, some families did dote on their daughters as far as providing them with riding lessons, foreign language lessons, and exposing them to things that would help them "catch a man." (I'm not agreeing, I'm just saying!) This was because they were not necessarily equipped (or expected) to work and pay their own way. I personally know some (now) elder women who were brought up this way. So maybe Betty didn't come from money, per se, but she may have been brought up with some of the finer things in the hopes of landing a quality man. (And oh yes, I say that tongue in cheek.) This would explain why William has to work for whatever he has. I get the sense (no real reason, just a sense) that William resents Betty and the fact that he has perhaps always had to work for everything.