Posted By Daisy on September 16, 2010

Today’s back2blogging task was not an easy one. No going back to the well of earlier posts. Instead we are to write about “a woman who inspires” us. I could write about my own mother and not be lying, but that seems trite. I’ve decided to wax philosophical about my current favorite TV character and why she’s so compelling (and yes, even inspirational). Here’s a hint — she’s on Mad Men. That’s also a heads up if you are behind on the show and want to avoid spoilers.

I like and can relate to a number of the female characters on the show, but the woman I wish I could BE is Joan. She’s astonishingly maternal, though not technically a mother. After all, what are Roger and Don really if not her overgrown children? Even her husband fits that bill. Joan is a caretaker by instinct. She fills gaps and needs, swiftly and with grace and virtually unnoticed. (That her contributions go unnoticed is the most difficult part of watching her.) She’s got a keen sense of the world and of herself. I like Peggy – a lot – but when she fired that jackass intern for his horrifyingly abusive behavior toward Women in general and Joan in particular, she revealed the several ways in which she pales next to her colleague. Joan fully understood the sexual politics in a way that Peggy never will, and what’s more, she was able to call out the blithely un-self aware copywriter on her own motivations.

Joan is frank and honest when necessary without being mean. She’s a consummate professional and unfailingly dependable. She sees what needs doing and then sets about doing it. It’s not just duty, either; there is immense caring behind almost everything she does. The only soul she has yet to figure out how to care for is herself. When she masters that (easier said than done, isn’t it?) — she’ll be unstoppable.

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