Girl On Girl Crime and Male-Dominated Culture

In response to The Atlantic article, “The End of Men,” it seems clear that although women may be hitting it out of the park in terms of facts and figures, we might have a ways to go before we convince people to change their perception of women in the workplace. That is to say, we might actually have to leave men behind before we are accepted as equals. This should begin by cutting out the women hating that happens all the time.

It happens often in Mediterranean American homes. It is not uncommon to see an Italian family where the girls are leaving the boys in the dust. Or a Portuguese family where all of the girls are growing up to work as nurses, doctors, lawyers and the boys are more interested in construction or labor-based professions. Not to generalize, but this doesn’t always mean that the women are being treated with more respect. Yes sir, sometimes it takes some time for a change to be noticed.

I can honestly say I have felt discrimination. I worked at a job where I was not allowed to ride a delivery bike because, “you’re a girl.” Pretty sure saying that is illegal, but it happens all the time. The most common response I get when I say I went to a women’s college is “Ugh, why would you ever want to go to a school with all girls?” Well maybe because I want to go somewhere where all of the funding goes to women? Or maybe because I think women are actually worthwhile and can serve as amazing support systems for one another? Usually men say this, but there is often enough some girl on girl crime too.

“I hate girls.” I hear women say this all the time. How can you hate women? Somehow, during our struggle for equality in the education and the workplace, we have convinced ourselves that there is only room for one successful woman in an office. We are threatened more by the success of other educated women than we are by successful men. Men use this cattiness as a scapegoat all the time. By ragging on each other, we are giving upper management (which is often men) a reason not to promote us. It seems that the biggest hurdle women have to overcome is pulling each other down.

Since women are beginning to prove (finally) to the business world that we are competent and an asset to any organization, what is left to change is our thought culture. If women were seen as the equal sex, then why would every cleaning product commercial be aimed at a woman? Why would baby products show a mother with her child? It is because we are still being viewed as weaker. I say we don’t give anyone an excuse not to take us seriously. That means empowering one another and acting like the classy ladies we are. This is not to say that men are always classy, or that there are not men who put down other men. But sometimes to get ahead, you have to be better than the status quo.