You've obviously never been the only female to work in an environment dominated by males. I've benefitted from my experiences, but the level of condescension one must face when they are of the female persuasion and can do their job as well or better than their male counterparts is often daunting, endlessly annoying, and sometimes infuriating. In the end, you're fighting against someone's bruised ego. There are women who do exactly what you describe but I think there are even more women today who've been in my shoes or something similar. I've had to nip sexual harrassment in the bud more than once, set the record straight when my ideas were passed off by another idiot bloke as their own, and some were foolish enough to think i'd get them out of a jam they created for themselves by appealingl to my "softer side".I don't believe it. I think most men wish women were a bit smarter than they are. Or maybe smarter than they act.
When they're around me, women I know to be intelligent act dumber and more immature (as in, childish, petulant, and helpless) than I think they actually are. I'm not talking one or two here - it's a definite trend. For a while I blamed it on articles in Cosmopolitan or some such which might have misinformed them that men like dumb and helpless women. That's probably not it - too simple. But then I don't know what it is - are they tired of doing the thinking and want me to do it for both of us? Or maybe tired of dealing with all the stupid stuff of daily life, and hoping that I'll handle it all? Whatever it is, I don't like it. If all she brings to the relationship is dependency, that's not enough.
That said, i've worked with female supervisors/bosses who embodied the term "bitch". I've often wondered if they felt the need to be abrasive for fear of not being taken seriously.
Now this fascinates me. Men and women think differently so we should avoid talking to each other because there's no hope of mutual understanding? How cynical and sad. Personally, my male friends have been the best resource for me as I develop a better understanding of male behaviour. As a matter of fact, I was discussing with a friend yesterday how valuable their input has been for me.The mental differences are far more radical than the physical ones, and neither gender is mentally equipped to understand the mental process of the other. This is the major reason that I don't see anything useful in the advice that problems can be solved by talking. And when women say that they'd like men to express their feelings, I think of what happens when they do. We get things like the Thirty Year's War.
It's nice to know you understand the difference between confidence and bitchery but there are some men who don't.Nope, I don't buy it. It sounds like a champion case of rationalization to me. There's no way that a person who is merely energetic and competent would be called a bitch. Gross egotism or conceit, or total insensitivity to the suffering she inflicts on others as she claws her way toward her goals - those might lead to a reputation as a bitch.