Mad Men might be dominated by strong male characters, but Joan Holloway breaks that mould with her powerful character. She is assertive and always puts her point across, no matter how unpopular it might be. She is put through the wringer during the show and doesn't always have it easy. However, that's what makes her such a compelling and likeable character as she is strong in adversity and always manages to come back better than before. She's brings a real range of emotions to the series and really becomes a core character.
But even though she's a fun character, that doesn't mean she's always good and does the right things. There are elements of her character that simply get worse as the show goes on, and within this list, we will rank 10 ways she does just that.
Treatment Of Peggy
Throughout the entire show Peggy and Joan have a complex relationship and while they end up respecting and liking each other, early on Joan works as a bully to her. Mainly this is because she's jealous of Peggy's success at copywriting, but even when she's just working on Don Draper's office, Joan is critical of Peggy.
Unlike the rest of the women, Peggy isn't out to impress with her looks to sleep around she wants to work hard and do well. She gives Peggy terrible advice and while they become close, even in later seasons she still throws the odd judgemental line Peggy's way.
Cattiness
Right from the start, it is clear that Joan is the office gossip and she loves to spread around as much as possible. She always wants to know what is going on with everyone and that allows her to turn situations into her favor as she often bullies others with information.
Every office tends to have one of these people, who always knows what is happening, but they're never great people. Joan's need to know everything often gets in the way, especially early on, with many of the ad men not appreciating it.
Lack Of Passion
This is something that only really creeps into play later on in the show, but it's fair to say Joan Holloway really does lose her passion for her work. This does affect her character because throughout the entire show, Joan has proven herself to be an amazing employee and her passion for the job was key.
It's one of the reasons she was such a great character as she was always working hard to make things happen, being as successful as possible. It was her driving force to climb up the ladder, but when that goes, she becomes uninterested in everything. That is until the very end when the passion returns for her new venture.
Denying Roger His Son
Would Roger have been a good father to his and Joan's baby? Probably not, and the situation would likely have become very messy, but Roger does try to be involved in his life. He wants to be a father figure initially and agrees to help, not just in terms of finance.
However, Joan turns him and down and rejects the idea, which seems strange. All she wanted early on was Roger to herself, rather than being his bit on the side. With the baby, Joan could have made that happen, but opts against it.
Firing People
Throughout the show, Joan has plenty of run-ins with the other girls in the office, mainly because she classes herself as the Queen Bee of the place. While she doesn't technically get any power until much later in the show, she is sort of left in charge of them all from an organisational standpoint.
However, when people cross her, Joan has no problem asserting her authority by firing people on the spot. She doesn't often talk about it and just acts out, rashly, which often doesn't work as others end up bringing them back to work, making Joan look foolish.
Returning To The Clothes Store
For a brief period within Mad Men, Joan ends up working outside of the advertising world. She instead becomes a sales associate at Bonwit Teller after things don't work with Greg's job. Rather than returning with her tail between her legs, she tries to hide away in a different industry.
However, she clearly believes she's better than them and when she returns to the store to try on expensive clothes, she makes a point of proving that. When the sales associate recognizes her, she showcases a nasty side of herself by being rude and then buying all of the clothes she's looked at as a method of proving herself.
Belittling Those Beneath Her
Joan knows that she's in a position of power within the company, even when she doesn't really have much say. Everything she does is with a purpose and because of her closeness to Roger, she feels like anything is possible for her.
Due to that she happily belittles anyone who is beneath her in the pecking order. This is especially true for the women who she happily thinks she has an iron grip over, telling them what to do and when.
Poor Treatment Of Her Mother
Living with your mother isn't always the easiest thing, especially when you're a successful working woman. But Joan's mom, Gail, is an incredible help to her. The only way she can keep working is by having her mother around to look after her son, which she does without any complaints.
However, throughout the show, Joan tends to treat Gail worse as things develop. Even though Gail never moans and always does whatever is needed around the home, she is treated horrendously in quite a rude manner at times.
Her Jealousy
Throughout Mad Men, Joan has always been one of the most jealous characters and someone who doesn't really like seeing others succeed, no matter how much she pretends to. At the start of the series, it tends to only be women she is jealous of, but that changes as the series progresses.
As Joan begins to move up the ladder and competes with the men, she then ends up becoming incredibly jealous of anyone and everyone who succeeds. It isn't a great trait to have and it doesn't paint her in the best light throughout.
Judging On Appearances
Joan is very conscious of her appearance and certainly knows how to dress the part in order to capture the attention of men in the office. Because of that, beauty and fashion is very much important to her, and she uses that to judge other people with.
If people don't appear a certain way, she instantly doesn't like them, giving herself a really shallow view on the world. This doesn't get better as she becomes older and wiser either, in fact, if anything it becomes worse.