Female bullying is harmful behavior by women or girls, who may target competitors or the weak. It can occur in school, work, or private life, and may involve exclusion, gossip, or fault-finding. Workplace bullying may be a way to defeat competition or achieve goals. Dealing with it involves documenting behavior and discussing it with management or HR, and suggesting sensitivity training programs.
Female bullying is intimidating, harmful or obstructive behavior by women or girls. Despite the archetypal idea of the callous male bully, women and girls are equally likely to be bullies, even though the way female bullying is done often differs from male bullying. This type of bullying can occur in a person’s school, workplace, or private life.
Bullying goals
The goals of the female bully may not be all that different from those of the male bully, although some people point to key differences. The bully is usually a deeply insecure person who fixes insecurities by making other people’s lives miserable. He or she may specifically target people seen as competitors or seen as weak.
Types of female bullying
Female bullying can occur through a variety of behaviors, including intimidation, foul play, and making it difficult for others to do a job. While women or girls aren’t always as likely to threaten physical violence, particularly in the workplace, some still do. It is often more common for bullies to form groups to deliberately exclude certain people, spread malicious gossip about others, be overly emotional and yell and scream, or constantly find fault with someone else. Such workplace bullying is often not much different than the queen bee behaviors in middle and high school cliques, except that another person may lose their job or feel pressured to quit if the bullying is successful.
Workplace bullying
The whole idea that female bullying exists in the workplace tends to counter the conventional thinking that women get along well and are the most cooperative of the genders. There is often a stereotype that women have a great advantage in the workplace due to a tendency towards teamwork, collaboration and cooperation. While this may be true for some women, others prefer to work alone, and some do so through bullying behaviors. One explanation could be that there are even fewer women holding management positions in many fields, and female bullying is one way to defeat the competition. Alternatively, if female bullying behavior has been more or less ignored in school settings, some women may view intimidation or destructive behavior as a good way to achieve goals.
Others believe that female bullying may go unresolved in the workplace due to fears that addressing it would prove to be a setback in the long-fought battle for gender equality. Recognizing that some women don’t know how to behave in the workplace could suggest that no women know and open the door to more gender discrimination.
Dealing with bullying
Advice for dealing with female bullying or a destructive female clique in the workplace typically involves talking to management, but first documenting any destructive or aggressive behavior. This can be difficult to do if the bully’s actions are not overt, and especially if the bully is supported by other group members. However, documenting any acts and discussing them with management or human resources can prove helpful. Victims of bullying could also research sensitivity training programs and suggest their implementation in a work setting.
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