348 Views   0 Comments   RELATIONSHIPS

Bullying Broads?

Mean Girls, the movie, came to mind the other day when a friend started talking about the "new girl" on her tennis team, a player of considerable skill and youth who had been placed on the team to help them compete in the next season. Hardly a practice round was played before the bitching began: "She's too young." "She's too pretty." "She must work out all day to have a stomach that flat!" "I just don't think she's a good fit for our team." "Do you think we can depend on her, with three young children and all?" "Well, I don't want to be her partner."
All this jealous bashing for a tennis team? I guess it just depends what field you play on. A story on the New York Times blog says we women do the same stupid thing in the office -- we're jealous and petty, we compete aggressively and pick on other women because we believe they're weaker than their male counterparts, we're bullies, and we're not good at collaborating, and we think in order to win, some other woman has to lose. We fail to identify with our cohort -- working women trying to get to the top -- fail to celebrate any woman's success if it's not our own, and as a result, contribute to the depressing reality that keeps women, despite their numbers in management and the professions, from leadership and ultimate decision-making positions. I thought we'd moved beyond seventh grade; but, apparently not.