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