THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WRITING THIS, especially the parts about Don/Betty. I've reached the point where I simply avoid any fandom discussion of the show whatsoever because so much of it is "Betty is a bitch for x/ a spoiled brat for y/ a whore for z" and "at least Don is trying" that I'm just like, auuuggghhhhh, clutching my head in agony, I don't even know. Betty isn't even my most favorite character on the series, and goodness knows the character has more than her share of massive flaws, but I feel like whenever I talk with people about the show I spend 90% of my time defending her because the character hate is just ridiculous. (And I think a lot of it overlaps with actress hate, too, like you mentioned for other shows; I can't even count the number of times I've read arguments along the lines of, "Well, I might like Betty if January Jones wasn't such a terrible actress, but she just makes Betty such a frigid bitch." SIIIIIIGH FANDOM.)