re: Is Joan from Mad Men awful overall?

quote:

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Great line.

Peggy was whining

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I never understood the hatred for Peggy. She gave up a baby from a philanderer in Pete.
She took the opportunities afforded to her in a time where that was a difficult thing for any woman to do.

The show gave an even handed look at it. She caressed Don's hand early on, thinking that sleeping with him was the expected way to stay on the job. Don rejected her because he wasn't attracted to her (and also not in such a sad place as he was when he slept with secretary Alison), and Peggy grew from it. She became a female version of Don. You can hate Peggy and Don, but you cannot hate one or the other. They are one in the same. Two opposite genders, but similar in having no values except for being "successful" in the ad game.