Why Do Women Bully Women in the Workplace? They're Easier Targets.
By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
So yet another new survey shows there's more bullying going on in the workplace. (What else would one expect during a recession?) More bullies are men, but when women bully, they're more likely to bully other women. According to the New York Times:
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.
On the question of why women would bully women (instead of nurturing them) my answer is, because they can. Wouldn't it be easier for most women to bully another woman than to bully a man?
And here's another question: Why, during a recession, is an organization called "The Workplace Bullying Institute" staying afloat, and how in the world is that organization finding money to fund studies such as this?
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Reader Comments
workplace bullying
simply put the corporate world cares nothing about the health and well being of their employees, the bottom line is their profits and their reputations. if you report being targeted in the workplace their response is to get rid of you, so until our legislatures enact a bill to make bullying illegal employers will continue to close their eyes to this growing problem. the outrageous treatment i endured at the hands of my co-workers and immediate supervisor nearly cost me my life, i did not know at the time that there was a name for it, everyday i wondered what was wrong with those people, why were they so immature, why do they continue to taunt and intimidate me? i mean they really were relentless and cunning they would ridicule and low rate me right in my face and when i complained they would deny their actions and claim that they had no idea what i was talking about, as soon as they left the office they would continue taunting me by saying i had no proof and no one would believe me as long as they stuck together. these monsters are now on a campaign to make everyone believe that im crazy when in fact they are the psychopaths.what employers need to realize is not everyone is going to suffer in silence, or quit their jobs, some targets are going to fight back. i cant find anyone in my area that is willing to advocate on a state of federal level but, i wont give up, i have to get my story out there i want to prevent someone else from becoming a target. to those people out there that consider us to be whiners, i wish you could have lived through the pure hell i endured for nearly a year and then tell me how you feel, knowing that if you confront these liars, you will probably be the one terminated. there has to be a law.
THIS IS A REAL PROBLEM
I am going through this myself. I am a 56 year old female with an exemplary career until last year when everything collapsed as well as my sales figures, but it isn't because I am a bad employee. In fact, I received a promotion 6 months prior and now I am a target. Bullying in the workplace of 50+ year old employees is real and I plan to do something about it. This has to stop. I have a boss 35 years old and I am considered obsolete even though I have more experience and more success than this person. Shocking in this great country this is allowed. Join me in this fight. There is strength in numbers. Let's stop fighting each other and stop calling each other names. That doesn't do anyone any good. Treat each other as you would like to be treated. Don't be like everyone else. It's a free country and everyone is entitled to their opinion. I am here to confirm big business is about money not matter how good you are at your job if you are 50+ and have been on board a long time (me going on 12 years) and done a great job, you are target because you are too old and cost too much.
bully in the workplace
I think that this is a very good contribution to a very real problem in business. It is especially obvious whether male or female dominated in organizations where the IT staff is an internal service division. The employees with seniority who have been forced to now show real value in an organization where they use to just hang out are forced to save their jobs by hiring unskilled robots to just keep there mouth shut and follow very inefficient control mechanisms such as approval processes for things that don't even make sense.
Let's not get caught up in the he/she battle, but instead let's bond together (like the bully and his/her programmed non-thinkers) to fight this bully cultural who stand behind the disguise of "Teamwork".
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