Why do women so often dislike working with other women?

As I was reading this question, I thought “He’s sexist”.

I love working with women. It gives me a chance to make me feel better than everyone else. (You know, men are superior)

HAHA just kidding…

women can be “catty” with each other. Not always, but often, especially in a group. Instead of supporting each other, they tear each other up. Maybe not face to face, but behind each other’s backs. I am female. This may not always be the case, but often is. I would rather work with guys.

I can say as a woman working with alot of other women, it can be annoying. It depends on the personalities alot. The problem is usually there is alot of drama and or someone being bitchy. It’s usually only one or two people and it sets off everyone else. I love having guys to work with because I am not a drama queen and guys usually don’t feed into that crap. Stay neutral and you won’t have any problems.

because it takes away their ability to get things by shaking their breasts and batting their eyelashes~

I worked with all women and one man (he was loving it). One word…HORMONES!

I agree with mzgator, a friend of mine mentioned women being “catty” and it sometimes sucks when they get overly emo and bring their personal life into their work life.

My current job had 8 women go through it since I’ve been there in a 6 year span and I saw them come and go because they were drama. Currently all predominantly male now and it could not be any better.

Women tend to be more judgemental of other women than men. Also, women gossip more and are more likely to be fake. Men are more straight forward and therefore easier to work with. IMO.

Sorry, I am sure I will get ripped for this, but I don’t find the cheap jokes amusing. I also don’t find the 14% salary gap between men and women working in the same jobs funny.

I have worked with women, had women work for me and worked for women bosses. I have never seen women be any more “catty” or dramatic than men, who can also be that way on the job. I have had good women bosses and good men bosses, and bad bosses of either sex.

It is always disturbing to me to see women buy into men’s sexist stereotypes about women in the workplace. It is one of the things that contributes to the glass ceiling. I suspect a lot of it may be acceptance of certain assertive attributes in men, but not in women, who sometimes feel forced to act like men to get ahead in male-dominated professions.

Why are generalizations about women in the workplace, especially negative stereotypes, amusing wen if we made similr generalizations about men in the workplace saying they were all sexist cavemen for example, there would be an outcry?

really? oh!

Its not sexist to recognize differences. All things being equal, the coworker who’s putting on a friendly facade, but lobbying to take over your project in the background is more likely to be female and the coworker who is always confrontational and quick to shoot down new initiatives in staff meetings is more likely to be male.
Both genders parttake in office politics, no doubt, but my experience is that women put more emphasis on the interpersonal relationships at work than men do and that can be a good or bad thing.

Only one can sleep with the boss.

@beast
Thats assuming only one of them is gay.

I think it’s a competition thing. Some women like to think that they are the best at their job and don’t like to share the recognition when something is done right. When the majority is girls they don’t get the attention from the few guys that work in the office. If it was more guys they would get more attention.

Men fight things out and move on. Women “remember” things forever.

MZGATER hit the nail on the head!

I find I hate working with other women, because it has always seemed to me they are trying to do my job, and make it seem like they do it ten times better. Also as a women I realize we tend to have a tendency to think we are always right, and always doing everything right. And well having more then two women in the same working environment thinking that they are all right about everything is very dangerous. Oh and women also tend to gossip, and I HATE that. I think I might have a problem being around other women in general. =/

I think the question is a BROAD generalization. Keep an open mind, don’t believe in the glass ceiling, don’t allow yourself to be put in a compromising position.

i think its funny that all the women on this thread talk about OTHER women being catty and gossiping etc. It’s one of those “its all of them, but not me of course” things. personally, i have had no problem working with women. i have worked in an office full of only women for 3 years and had no problem with it. i still keep in touch with all of them and we still meet up every two months or so. we are very involved with each others lives etc and respect each others opinions. as long as you do your part in not being dramatic and be a hardworker, i don’t think there should be any problems.

I worked in an office department of 12 women and me and another guy. A few mentioned their dislike with working in an office full of women (as well as more specifically working for a woman). If I had to guess, I would say one reason is having to deal with another woman’s emotional trip of the day (as opposed to projecting their own). A second (in terms of being a subordinate) is suffering through hazy direction and directives.

@deepseas72, in terms of what to expect, my experience says expect to be relegated to “meat” in one form or another. Expect to be the go-to guy for lifting heavy stuff and computer problems. Expect to join the fray and get relegated toward the bottom of the pecking order or keep that at arms length and carve out your domain. Expect to have to listen to lots of irrelevant chatter. If you’re the object of nastiness, separate the nastiness from the nugget if there is one and react to the nugget if it’s warranted. Along the lines of @Trance24’s comment, don’t let the many hand-of-god(dess) assumptions about what is right erode your confidence in your assessment and determination of what is, in fact, right. Try not to please for the sake of pleasing (a woman), but for the sake of the work to be done. Again, my experience.

@marina- another statistic to add to your repertoire

@PnL
I’m certainly not above the occasional gossip, but my feedback from others tends to vary from “You’re very concise” to “Sometimes you come across a bit blunt”......I’m very much against the idea of facades and double standards, but I experience it more from other women than I do from men. I don’t know if it’s related to the whole creative vs. logic brain thing. Men just don’t seem to bother to pretend they like you if they’re about to log an official complaint about you – type thing.

mzgator took the words right out of my mouth!

because independent women compete subliminally. if your coif is hot, they will or will not comment, but hair determines your worth. it’s all about your hair! your hairstyle and how well you maintain it speaks volumes. it is the deciding factor who reigns supreme. yeah, um, thats what it boils down to. great hair=power.

Women tend to be moody and PMS affect them greatly when it comes down to accepting that others can do a better job. As it has been said before, this is one reason women bring their personal lives to work and find the need to gossip more. Men don’t usually go around the bush, we are more practical and don’t hover around personal issues. There are always exceptions like Marina points out, but like wildf says this is usually the case.

edmartin, I do not recall blaming PMS and the desire to bring your personal life to work as you so flatteringly put it. Please do not misinterpret my previous statements as saying women are hopelessly emotional where men can keep a cool head. I can not count the times I’ve had to be the voice if reason or audience to much venting of frustration from male coworkers.

My actual point was that women place more importance on the interpersonal relations in a workplace, whereas men will generally be more task focused, keeping quiet about personal opinions, likes and dislikes. Which of the two is better is impossible to say. Best option is a healthy balance.

sorry wildf, point well taken

Fake smiles, bitchiness, backstabbing?.... could be a possiblity of why some women do not like to work with other females.

@edmartin101 One thing you should know about women is that no matter how catty they can be, they will stop fighting and focus all their bad energies on a man who tries to write it off as PMS. The worst thing you can say to a Woman during “her time” is” so THAT’S why.” Odds are she will rip you to shreds for that statement faster than gail’s Milo during a nail cutting ceremony.

scamp: why is that? Because, it usually IS why. Women aren’t oblivious to the fact that they are feeling terrible and it often greatly affects their moods. So why the furor when WE finally realize the cause of the insanity?(This is NOT a blanket statement. I know not all women are affected negatively during this particular time, but it is common.)

Granted, many women go kind of overboard during her ‘time of the month”. Something that would bother her at any time can be magnified during PMS. To blame her being upset soley on PMS is telling her she has no legitimate reason to feel the way she does. I reduces her worth to nothing more than hormonal ebb and flow, and it is insulting to her.

someone sent me this after and incident at the office I used to manage. don’t agree, but interesting some have such a perspective

http://bp2.blogger.com/_EUfYVV1sGP4/SItlvASJD8I/AAAAAAAABA8/AB3Uo2Hd12A/s1600-h/professionalbitchemail.jpg

at my restaurant job, i work with about 16 other women, three men, and three male bosses. some days, i love working with so many girls (when both they and i are not being catty bitches) but on others, i am more than appreciative that there are at least a few males around. i asked my boss today not to hire another female since we are looking for help, and he agreed we needed to start to even the gender percentage out. i can admit as a woman that i can be a terrible moody bitch, and that most other women can be as well. this makes working with them often difficult, but men can also be difficult as well. i’ve found women “gang up” on the few males at my workplace and tend to make fun of them/put jokes on them, but the only reason the males seem more mature is because the three we have happen to be above that, not because men can’t be this way too. i don’t want to say gender is irrelevent because i do think it plays a role, but there are advantages and disadvantages to working with either sex and when it comes down to it, i find their work habits and overall personality to be more important than (and doesn’t have to be attributed to) their anatomy.

work is daycare for women

i hate wrkin wiv women they are bitchy and horrible! most of my friends are male and i love it!

Women CURRENTLY feel the need to prove that they are capable of doing the same job as men, so they are more agressive. Plus they have that hormonal thing going on, and at times makes it difficult for them to deal with stressfull situations.

i think women are territorial and if there’s a new kid on the block who is successful the women tear that person down behind their back.

Many women tend to get way too personal with other women on the job. I’ve experienced this time and time again. Sometimes men do it too but it’s usually along the lines of personal interest. Women tend to see other women as bulls eyes, while they tend to keep a little more distance from men. I can’t tell the amount of times I’ve had to explain why I wouldn’t socialize with people I worked with, or why I leave immediately after work, etc. Most of the conflicts I had were based on personal issues and dislikes, rather than my actual performance, although my female bosses would never have admitted it. That’s just the way it is. Not all women are like that ( I’m not) but a great deal of them are.

women sales managers cannot stand up to upper management for a second and in a sales enviroment are prone to terminating workers, and being reactive, and not prone to a big picture approach.

Sales managers are all mad anyway…

cause women can be bitchy as hell

Yes, women can be horrible to work for and with. I work in a small office with all women.
Depending on moods, some days are good; some are bad. I try not to socialize either or get dragged into personal things. I’ve already been thru one not talking to the other one and going thru me to talk type thing. And I’m talking about the owner of the company and one of the head nurses! Hormones rage and women hold grudges more than men. But everyone gets over it. It’s what you make it, I guess.

If I had to choose (having worked for both), I’d stay where I am—in the line of fire. Only cause most days I’m here by myself and that’s WONDERFUL!

In general, (and I know there are exceptions) men are task oriented and women are relationship oriented. Men just do what it takes to get the job done and sometimes women worry about how what they do is going to make people feel. With so many people worrying about the relationships it can sometimes get messy. If managed well, having people who consider relationships can increase productivity by being more in tune with the customer and having an environment where people feel free to tend to their relationships. They see that as a job benefit, and are more loyal

A natural survival mechanism to procreate can not be obtained, by hanging around the competition. Just as natural as it is for man’s natural survial to hang around other men for hunting and killing the competition.

Oh you have something coming for ya. I honestly don’t know what it is… I definitely click better with guys, but I think that’s cause I’m not very ladylike. I think a lot of girls are just insecure and easily intimidated. All the girls I get along with are sure of themselves and don’t act all “ahhh you hurt my feelings.” I dunno. Girls are weird… but so are guys.

From experience the women I worked for seemed more concerned about flirting with the guys, chatting about celebrity gossip and just all around goofing off but when it was time to work they’d do it but not willingly or they’d bitch about working late when they could have avoided it by working in the first place.

Now, I’ve had male bosses that are all about talking football and video games but they actually seem to be working while still doing that.

Quite frankly, women are very competitive sometimes so competitive it hinders their ability to work because they want to be liked more so than respected but this is just my opinion. :)

i’m not sure if it’s the same in a work environment, but as far as school goes (and i’m not sure how much more mature girls get haha), i’d much rather have an equal group if anything, because girls DO tend to be really catty. being a guy though, you may not have any objections to it, maybe it’s just something girls observe. either way, good luck? hah

Because women are bitchy? =]

I have worked in two different all female offices and it was terrible. My daughter lived with 3 other girls last year and it was horrible. Then she asked if I would mind if she lived with 2 guys and another girl and I said please do! The dynamics will change completely and you will be much happier. I am pleased to say I was right! (Also helps that they each have their own room.)

Since you are a guy I don’t think you have too much to fear and you can only help the situation! Good Luck and please report back once in awhile!

BTW – I am completely embarrassed that this phenomenon is true! Women should behave better then men.

working in a kitchen with 90% guys makes my life a heck of a lot more fun and relaxed.
i act how i want and no one says a thing.
now if i were to work on the floor at the restaurant… that would be a totally different story.

The culture in which we are raised does much to determine behaviour before we even realize what is happening. Look at the way males and females are depicted in advertising, car ads have semi-naked women on the outside looking in at the male driver, boys playing with trucks, girls in dresses having tea parties. It is brain washing and a lot of women (and men) buy into it. Left to their own devices, I don’t think there really is much difference between male & female. But as long as women are depicted as “catty, bitchy, gossipy” (traits which I have found just as common in males as females), the situation will go on and on and on.

great answer rooeytoo. lurve to you hope to see more of your answers in the future :)

I work at a children’s clothing company, there are about 18 people there, and only 2 of them are men. And I love it! I like working with women only. Everyone is sweet and understanding of other women’s needs.

I think this is interesting because this discussion recently came up, and I was like really? I think it really depends on the people. There are some women who are catty and vicious, and there are some men who are the same way.

I think the key to where I work, is that there are no men to compete over, so there isn’t really any problems about women being catty to one another. I think it’s how you deal with one another.

I also feel like men are always hitting on me, and so that’s just one less thing to worry about.

@ronski = maybe it is a space thing. lots of women in close quarters seems not to work, in my experience. Perhaps you all are in a bigger space. Congrats anyway, take pride and ENJOY!

I am embarrassed that women can’t work together, frankly.

@DandyDear711 yea, perhaps. no matter what work usually seems like close quarters to me, with people who may always remain close to strangers outside of the work world…so what are close quarters? behind the counter of noah’s bagel? just curious what would be considered close…

and i am embarrassed as well, since women are the givers of life and beauty

May be the result of women being more emotionally oriented and men more visually and logically oriented.

@Garebo haha, damn these emotions they get the best of me. (but really, I have met some of the most emotional men on the planet!)

I think some women can be too competitive, catty, and antisocial – always trying to one-up their co-worker. I am fortunate to work with men and women in a profession where we are all equal and it’s great.

Meow?

i find myself having to cope when i’m around certain kinds of women, i feel a little bit more on edge, like i’m being judged or something. i like the idea someone mentioned that men just fight it out and move on but women “remember.” it’s very true and funny!

I love my girl friends but I can’t STAND working with them TOO MUCH DRAMA when we chicks get stressed out.

@Loried2008 same with living with them… gotta add boys to the mix.

Wow, where do you people work?

I work on a team of about 40 people (gay, straight, transgendered, Jehovah’s Witness, Muslim woman in hijab, African, African American, Asian, Hispanic, white, male, female) and we take care of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Our work is not a picnic and maybe because we are focused on the work rather than our differences, but it is not like the things you all are describing at all. Maybe because our clients provide real life drama, we don’t need to create it for ourselves.

I hate working with a ton of guys and only a few women (or none at all!). Way too much of a frat-house vibe. Makes me feel like I’m back in high school trying to be cool/tough/insensitive/overly macho. I left that crap behind years ago. Give me a balanced workplace, or better yet one with a female majority – I’d rather be around cats (in reference to the “catty” stereotype) than a bunch of apes.

if i had to work in an office full of women i’d kill myself.

I say women do what us men tell them to do. Forget what this question is, Men we are thirsty for power. And we strive for it any ways possible, through women, other weak men, animals and competition.

I’m proud to be a man
—Troym333

Women can be highly territorial.

They frequently say otherwise but they are most comfortable as the only woman.

A woman is more likely to consider another woman more of a competitor than another man.

Most professional women will claim to want to be evaluated only as a person and for their skill, yet expect a slightly greater amount of consideration when approached. The more women in the pool, the less likely it is that this consideration will be directed toward the woman in question.

Gender and professional politics both suck, its even worse when theyre combined.

I worked in a daycare which staffed only women at the time. They were all so catty and dramatic. Everyone would smile to your face and the minute you turned your back it was “Oh my gosh did you see so and so’s new haircut?” Or “Wow she is really putting on some weight”. These were grown women! I guess that’s what happens when you put a bunch of insecure women in a small workplace. They start drama and spread rumors.

Because we don’t feel special and we don’t like to be compared to other women in such a setting. Also, there is a sense that female bosses are not very uptight and have a poor sense of humour. I don’t believe so, but there is that stereotype that makes it entirely not fun to work with someone who has zero appeal.

@Noel_S_Leitmotiv

I think you hit it on the nail with that one.

I worked in an office with 4 women once. It was the worst experience of my life. Catty, bitchy, “talk to the hand” crap, day in and day out. The gal directly across from me was always sobbing about something in her life. Total lack of professionalism.

Cat fight!

well all the “women” that say this probably dont like gossip or they just feel better surrounded by dudes

I hate the gossip. I hate the emotion (which is mostly negative.) I hate the crying.

Because there can only be one.

@Val123 are you a dude?

@499335508crazygrape No. I also don’t gossip, and I certainly don’t cry at work. There are a few women that I’ve worked with in the past who have my same ethics, but overall, getting 6 woman in one room together for eight hours is a disaster waiting to happen. In my experience.

Women are terrible. Hands down.

@pinkparaluies NOT ME!!!! Really. I am one of the few women I know who can really leave all the emotional catshit at home!

@Val123 That is why you is my friend.
But seriously. I don’t even hang out with women. Just the men folk for me!

@pinkparaluies :)
THAT IS TOO WEIRD!!! I just glanced at the clock and realized my second favorite show is on….60 minutes. My first favorite show is 20/20….and that’s exactly how many points I now have! How funny!

“I can’t stand women. They’re so fucking catty,” she said… cattily.

@MacBean LOL!

Took redundancy earlier this year and I am dreading going out into the workplace again after 23 years of being in the same company (worked for a Bank by the way, never want to work in a financial “institution” again) – I am 53, single, never married and no kids, so for a start off your are “judged” and don’t fit into the “pigeon hole” of domesticity, anyone else in the same boat as me ??

@kathyyorks: Oh, ew, that’s going to be tough. I wish you lots of luck.

PMS or MENOPAUSE and jealousy! Simple as that!

Maybe because I work in a factory, not an office, I have had more conflict with men, than women.

Sure, there are some women who don’t seem to have a handle on their hormones, but there are also some men who make me wonder if that gender doesn’t also have PMS issues.

I have never had to work with a woman who made me feel as though I was competing with her in some form, but I have seen men behave as I would expect a “stereotypical” woman to behave….

It really depends on the person.

I have worked for and with groups of women where I was the only male and enjoyed the work and the work relationships. I’ve worked in offices where the competition and interactions among the women have been deplorable. I’ve seen women thrive in work environments where the people to whom they answered were male. Aside from knuckle-dragging neanderthal male chauvinist pigs, other women are frequently the most abusive and downright cruel to women in the work place. I suspect many female fluthers would concur with this observation. As a male, I leave it to the women to offer a suitable explanation for this phenomenon.

@Dr_Lawrence I concur. I just interviewed for an office position. The manager is a great lady, close to my age, and I can tell we’d get along well. But there are three other younger gals up front who’ve….kind of given me pause the few times I’ve dealt with them. During the interview the manager said, basically, “How do you handle…um…personality conflicts among co workers? It’s mainly women here….well, the’re ‘kids’ ” (at our age anyone under 30 is a ‘kid’.) When she asked the question I was going, “Shite! I know what that means! Attitudes abounding.”

Because it’s so much easier to work with men! Us, women are way too competitive with eachother, we like to be the most pretty, the most inteligent, the most efficient, the most loved one, the most everything and another woman may be a threat. I know it sucks but it’s somehow how we “operate”. I consider myself very friendly and cooperative but I wont deny that when another woman invades my territory and she’s not one of the people I consider my friends, claws appear.

Theyre insecure.

this should apply to people in general…. woman are not bad to work with, all my work mates are really sweet and so easy to get along :D we all talk and work well with eachother…

I understand what you mean though… but it sounds sexist D:

@Marie123 Perhaps the women who make the workplace difficult to live with are insecure. But you don’t have to be an insecure person to detest snide looks, cliques, sotto voice mutterings, head games, crap like that.

It’s all about territorial thing.
I have found an interest on this and i got some answers on this link. Very enlightening.

http://www.trainersdirect.com/resources/articles/JRaymond/Women%27sNewWorkplace.htm

Personally, I don’t want to work with anyone. I find the minute you get a few people together work tends to go out the window and people want to gossip or flirt. thats why I work from home, alone and love it.

Male/female office dynamics are a weird animal, to be sure. My mother’s boss—the strong, iron-willed “I am Woman” career type, something like No. 4 in the entire ‘staff’ part of a university—will become effeminate to the point of curtseying when the crabby troll-under-the-bridge systems guy (who, I might add, is the one that actually keeps the programs and what spinning in the department) is involved.

I think i’m one of the guys.

“Women” are like this, “Men” are like that?! Really?! I’m a person who happens to be a woman. I am not “like” anything because of my gender. I’m a real person.

Men have hormones too. Some more than others, some better in control of them than others, some the same as female hormones, some different. Why? Because men are honest-to-goodness people, and people have hormones. I have seen testosterone fueled competition, deception, back-stabbing and estrogen-fueled same; I have also seen testosterone fueled awesomeness and estrogen-fueled same.

Why do men so often prefer working with women? Why do people so often seek out same sex, no wait, opposite sex friends? Why do men so often hate their male boss? Why are all these questions both possible and misleading and provoking all at the same time?

Because people are not all the same. Even women people.

I’ve worked in all-female groups that have rocked, I’ve been the only woman on male teams that have rocked, and I’ve been in mixed groups that have rocked, and each of the above have on occasion sucked, largely depending on the team members and most especially the boss. But which do we pull out and ask about?

Anyone stop to think that the mere & constant posing of a question like this predisposes the responses?

Another way of saying the same thing:

What % of the population hates work? What % work with mostly women? My guess is: % of pop that hates work > % that works with mostly women. If true, who do the rest of us work with?

@chocomonkey You’ve never had to work in an office comprised solely of women, have you! Not saying they’re ALL catty, backstabbing and bitchy, but there is bound to be at least one, and that one can really screw up the working environment. You don’t’ normally find men whispering about other co-workers, or moping around trying to get people to feel sorry for them because of some home situation.

@Val123 – I’ve never worked in an office comprised solely of women, but I have worked on a 15 person team where 13 were women. There was not “bound to be at least one” on that team that was “catty, backstabbing [or] bitchy”. It was different than the all male teams I’ve been on but it wasn’t worse.

I entirely agree though that 1 bad apple can sabotage the experience for everyone. My bad apples are not sex-specific. On my shortlist of “who never ever ever to work with again” I have 1 woman and 2 men.

@chocomonkey The thing about men is they’re pretty straight forward. They’ll tell you straight up what they’re thinking, and that can be stressful, especially if they aren’t nice people to begin with. But women tend to communicate via attitude and snide references. They also tend to get into little groups and gossip. Men don’t really do that….

@Val123 – that last point, I entirely agree with. Men and women, as a broad generalization, whether nature or nurture, have different communication styles. I just don’t see those differences as wholly positive vs wholly negative.

In any case, I’ll stop now. Thanks for the replies.

I think it’s crazy that people are still answering this question after so much time. It seems it pops up every few weeks.

I like working with women. I don’t think there is any difference between working with women and the issues and working with men. I’ve done both (work with men and women dominated offices). People are people.

@Val123 ha! you think men don’t do that? eight years in a male branch proved different. Plus in various office situations. I have no idea why this women in the office sexist stuff still exists.

@Just_Justine Well, I’ve worked in male dominated work places (as the only women there) as well as predominately female environments and a 50/50 mix of both. I guess it’s just been my experience.

Just watch one episode of The Bachelor and you will know why! Lol.

MOST women ARE the stereotyped version of gossipy, petty, jealous, competitive, catty, bitchy, envious…sorry to say as one such woman that has never played into that crap.

I cannot stand the way many womens ‘personalities’ play out…it’s a disgrace to women everywhere and those, such as myself that don’t play into all the B.S.

Thats why I am self employed in a creative line of work…I love my female friends but will not work with most females. Ugh!

First of all, no offense to women. Second of all, I realize that I am generalizing. Third, I have some very good friends who are also women (am female, to an extent myself).

Those disclaimers made, I absolutely hate working with other women. In my experience they have been little more than catty, backstabbing, gossiping valley girls and I can’t stand that.

I would be cocerned, but because I’m a woman, you should be fine(you’re a man) as long as you don’t pick sides, you know, there’s always the who do you agree? who are you with? etc.

Nice..:)..I am working in a software firm for 2 years. There are some female colleagues working around me. They are all well behaved and good minded. I love to work with them. Here, i would like to say that, my boss is also a female. And it is real true that, her assigned tasks are so organized than other male boss. I am afraid to say so, but i noticed that female employers are more organized, more devoted toward their work than male one.

Thanks you for asking such kind of nice question.

Having worked in medical and office capacities, and not being a typical “female”... my take is… it’s because we “nurturing females” are CUNTS in certain environments. Double-edged sword, hormones, you fill in the blanks. If I ever work in an exclusively-female workplace again, I will slit my own throat and save the local “queen bee” the trouble. ..|..

The women I work with seem to get along with each other just fine.
We’re all I.T. systems folk though, engineers, possibly a skewed sample.

cuz women are often jealous and bitchy towards each other.

you don’t notice it until you have something they want.

like i am the most junior in my office any my engagement ring turned out to be the biggest. i could really care less but alot of women got catty about it.. so sad.

one even demanded that i take it off so she could inspect it..

hell hath no fury than a woman’s scorn- even shakespare was right and this was hundreds of years ago.

it was just weird and crazy…

The incessant drama

Women compete!!! Possibly women check out women more than men do. The voice of insecurity says “is she prettier than me?” ... and a whole host of other insecure questions. Women should spend more time affirming each other and considering their own strengths and gifts. We are all unique and think about this—- if each of us wasn’t the person we are right now, the people who have come to love us uniquely, wouldn’t be drawn to us.

Too many b*tches spoil the crew?

@MR shiny shoes – LOL!

A lot of women are hormonal, emotional, gossipy, and judgemental. They are all drama all the time.

Not ALL women are like this though. In the sciences, I have met a lot of women that I respect and get along with (and a few that are emotional wrecks that I wonder how they ended up in science). It is when I go to get a haircut or buy fashionable clothes that I am reminded of the other type of woman. It is the emotional extroverts that make me cringe!

I get along with my coworkers and the management is great (all female.) However, in the past we had a woman boss who was sarcastic and vindictive. I don’t blame her abrasiveness on being a woman however. She was just nasty. Another coworker (female) gave me a hard time too. She was very self righteous and a hypocrite. She was always quick to point out perceived flaws in others, while ignoring her own major flaws. She also had affairs with married men.

Women are our own worst enemies sometimes. Instead of being each others advocates, too often cattiness and jealousy take over. But all women aren’t like that and as I said, at this time I am fortunate enough to have decent coworkers (mostly women.)

Both men and women can be difficult to work for/with. Each brings its own set of problems. I guess its a matter of which set of hassles you prefer. I have always preferred working in a gender balanced environment, it seems to keep things in check more. I think when anything in life is too slanted in one direction be it a largely same gendered workspace or whatever, there is more of a tendency to extreme behavior.

My guess would be that you will either be adored or loathed in some sort of a rotation depending on the circumstances. Do your job, be polite and you will lessen the pendulum swing.

Women know how difficult women can be. It seems like there can’t be to many working in a small area. They get mean if they are backed into a corner. Same thing happens with chimpanzees.