Newsflash! Women Bullying Women at Work is Really Patriarchal Blame-Shifting Plot!

After decades of increasing opportunity for women in American life, the focus of gender equality in the workplace is shifting to other subtle barriers to advancement outside the normal structures of male dominance. According to the New York Times's, "Backlash: Women Bullying Women at Work," women on women bullying constitutes 40 percent of the cases of workplace gender harrassment. But note in addition to that:

... 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.

Hmm. Let's think about that: Men take an "egalitarian approach," which might mean that men exercise decisive but fair leadership that generates a few grumbles, while women engage in catfights more vicious than anything those "evil" patriarchs could dish out. Okay. Check.

Now, let's hear if from Echidne, who just can't stand to find that, gasp!, women are oppressors:

This piece sounds to me like yet another in that long series the Times has: What Is Wrong With Working Women? These stories always create or magnify a problem and then offer anecdotal evidence on how awful the problem is.

To get to that point, the present article quickly slides by the facts: Men are more often bullies than women and if you work a little on those percentages you will find that male-on-female (heh) bullying is a larger percentage than female-on-female bullying. But never mind, we shall write about the latter! Yes.

Then we are going to pretend that all working women know the names of Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem and we are also going to pretend that these feminists believed in some universal sisterhood, easily shared by all women in a society which is still based on patriarchy.

See how it works? Now we have a problem of evil women keeping other women down. To the extent this happens, might it have something to do with the musical chairs that many firms still play with women? If only a few promotion slots are available for women, and if women know this to be the case, well, they are going to compete against other women, right?

The conclusion of the article tells us that this is a problem women should fix, what with all the other problems women have to cope with (such as guys bullying them more). Those other problems or their solutions are not, however, written up in the New York Times. It's much safer to focus on what is wrong with women themselves.

Actually, Echidne misses the whole thrust of the article. No one here is saying men don't bully and harrass women. The piece notes instead that "women are taught to fight with one another for attention at an early age" and that this fact is emerging as a substantial impediment to gender equality.

Also, this is not "anecdotal" evidence. The article discusses social science research using what look likes is large "N" workplace studies using survey questionnaire methods. Thus, by definition these are not "anecdotal" findings. But like it is with black civil rights, feminists like Echidne will endlessy claim "discrimination" while folks like Carli Fiorina and Condoleezza Rice blaze a trail of leadership across the pinnacles of power in American politics, business, and academe.

P.S. See also, Robert Stacy McCain's "National Offend A Feminist Week." I'm a little late to the party, but better late than never!

Hat Tip: Memeorandum.

Added: See also, Fausta, who calls "bullshit": "Having attended an all-girls’ school for 11 years, and having been bullied by a woman supervisor at work, believe me when I tell you that women are as obnoxious and bullying as any ..."