Women Bullying Women at Work

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Registered: 03-09-2001
Women Bullying Women at Work
4
Mon, 05-11-2009 - 10:40am
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090510/ZNYT01/905103016/1082?Title=Backlash-Women-Bullying-Women-at-Work



"Backlash: Women Bullying Women at Work

MICKEY MEECE

Published: Sunday, May 10, 2009 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, May 10, 2009 at 2:05 p.m.



YELLING, scheming and sabotaging: all are tell-tale signs that a bully is at work, laying traps for employees at every pass.



During this downturn, as stress levels rise, workplace researchers say, bullies are likely to sharpen their elbows and ratchet up their attacks.



It’s probably no surprise that most of these bullies are men, as a survey by the Workplace Bullying Institute, an advocacy group, makes clear. But a good 40 percent of bullies are women. And at least the male bullies take an egalitarian approach, mowing down men and women pretty much in equal measure. The women appear to prefer their own kind, choosing other women as targets more than 70 percent of the time.



In the name of Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, what is going on here?



Just the mention of women treating other women badly on the job seemingly shakes the women’s movement to its core. It is what Peggy Klaus, an executive coach in Berkeley, Calif., has called “the pink elephant” in the room. How can women break through the glass ceiling if they are ducking verbal blows from other women in cubicles, hallways and conference rooms?



Women don’t like to talk about it because it is “so antithetical to the way that we are supposed to behave to other women,” Ms. Klaus said. “We are supposed to be the nurturers and the supporters.”



Ask women about run-ins with other women at work and some will point out that people of both sexes can misbehave. Others will nod in instant recognition and recount examples of how women — more so than men — have mistreated them.



“I’ve been sabotaged so many times in the workplace by other women, I finally left the corporate world and started my own business,” said Roxy Westphal, who runs the promotional products company Roxy Ventures Inc. in Scottsdale, Ariz. She still recalls the sting of an interview she had with a woman 30 years ago that “turned into a one-person firing squad” and led her to leave the building in tears.



Jean Kondek, who recently retired after a 30-year career in advertising, recalled her anger when an administrator in a small agency called a meeting to dress her down in front of co-workers for not following agency procedure in a client emergency.



But Ms. Kondek said she had the last word. “I said, ‘Would everyone please leave?’ ” She added, “and then I told her, ‘This is not how you handle that.’ ”



Many women who are still in the work force were hesitant to speak out publicly for fear of making matters worse or of jeopardizing their careers. A private accountant in California said she recently joined a company and was immediately frozen out by two women working there. One even pushed her in the cafeteria during an argument, the accountant said. “It’s as if we’re back in high school,” she said."



(article continues...)




So, what's been your experience? What do you think about this?


Blessings,

Gypsy





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Blessings,

Gypsy

)O(



iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Mon, 05-11-2009 - 11:53am

>"Leadership specialists wonder, are women being “overly aggressive” because there are too few opportunities for advancement? Or is it stereotyping and women are only perceived as being overly aggressive? Is there a double standard at work?"<

Is this a case of a male being a "go getter", assertive, dynamic but if a woman shows these tendencies she called a bitch?

When I was working I had people working for me & it wasn't always easy. I was pretty patient & treated people respectfully. I refused to engage in any petty tit for tat or gossip. I haven't ever personally experienced any bullying by women in the work place.

bird-1.jpg New picture by 1944misty

 


Photobucket&nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-30-2008
Mon, 05-11-2009 - 9:20pm

I think that it makes sense that women will go after women before they go after a man.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Tue, 05-12-2009 - 8:30am
I've never been in a competitive line of work like sales. My background is technical.
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Photobucket&nbs

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Registered: 08-30-2002
Tue, 05-12-2009 - 10:21am

I had two kinds of women bosses. Ones that were great at pulling us all together as a team and making us feel appreciated, and the ones that were complete witches that wanted their butts kissed, and if you weren't beholden to them, you were on their hit list.


I don't agree that women that were go getters were always labled bitches.