Women ONLY workforce

I agree with you about the bitchiness of an all female workplaces Bluegal my sister works in the NHS surrounded by all women and honestly the bitchiness that goes on is horrendous ( verging on bullying) likewise my cousin in a government call centre. I have worked in an all male environment for over 25 years now and whilst it can get quite lonely ( I would Love a female colleague to talk to) you really don't get any of that bitchiness with men. Having said that you don't get any of the nice things either like birthday cards, cakes, sharing etc.

I can’t imagine anything worse than an all female workplace. I spent the weekend with an old friend who told me she left a job because of the bitchiness of the women she worked with, and there has been an element of it in every office I have worked in. DD has a friend who says the NHS is dreadful for it. I, too, have always enjoyed a bit of male banter. I have only come across two places I have worked where blokes have “pushed their luck” (not with me) with their behaviour towards women. One was put firmly back in his box; the other one lost his job.

I built an all women team in my last job before I retired, only because I chose the best candidates for the job. No ‘bitchiness’, back biting or any other negatives.

It’s nothing to do with gender but more the person.

I did come cross a thoroughly nasty piece of work and two horrible bullies in other teams. The bullies were men bullying other men and the nasty piece of work was a female.

I personally object to the use of the word ‘bitch’ as it’s purgative towards females. What’s the male equivalent? Dog?

I would never call an individual a bitch Anya but there really isn't another word I can think of ( other than bitchiness) to describe the way some all women workforces operate . ( talking about another worker as soon as the leave the room, pulling up their every shortfall to cover their own backs, name calling, pinching personal items then replacing them ( for fun you understand ???) deliberately leaving an individual out if any plans or conversation...... the list is endless . Bitchiness at its worst. My poor sister has suffered at the hand of these thoroughly nasty all women groups in the NHS.

I’m not saying this sort of behaviour doesn’t happen, but I’ve seen just as bad from certain male colleagues but in an even more dangerous way - driving one man to a nervous breakdown and using his position of power to get several colleagues made redundant.

I think this impression being given on here that women are the nastier sex and given to certain behaviour patterns that are exclusive to the female gender is just what we don’t need. I’m surprised at the tone of this thread.

It starts very early in school too . Sadly. I'm sorry to disagree but men really don't seem behave like this at work (well not in my experience anyway).

I’ve worked in and run all female work for my almost my entire working life. No problems, no bitchiness allowed in my salon!
I did work in a hair salon on Slone St. when I finished college. There were 2 gay men there that were very bitchy. That was horrible and I didn’t stay long.

I'd hate an all women environment. Women can be so nasty and some can be incredibly boring. I know some men can be incredibly boring too but at least they don't twitter on ad infinitum about make up and dieting.

Bitchiness is very close to bullying and the two often cross .

I give up!

OK, keep knocking your own sex if that’s what you like to do (irony is alive and well)

I have worked in a female group of 4/5 but we were all friends as well as work mates, met outside of work hours. I would hate to work with a larger group though, I have friends who've worked in supermarkets etc where larger numbers and the nastiness that goes on can be horrible.
Many years ago I worked in a large car dealership, 3 woman and about 40 chaps. Yes there was the odd lot of banter (now would be, by some, called sexual harassment!) but you have to give back as good as you get. I loved working there, they were a great group. After years in the hospitality business I would prefer working with a large group of fellas every time.

No need to give up Anya but I really can't see the point in pretending that this behaviour doesn't go on, when it absolutely does and often in places ( like the NHS or government offices) where it really shouldn't.

I’m with you Anya. I have worked in both male and female dominated teams. My female manager was a manipulative bully who flirted with the men and made friends with the women - until she got fed up with you and then moved on to the next person whereupon she would make the first person’s life an utter misery. Because I wouldn’t play the friend game she used her position to attack me and almost brought me to the edge of a nervous breakdown.

My male manager however was far more dangerous. He was a master at plotting and scheming to cover his own lazy back, and would have sold any one of us down the river if/ when he was caught out. He also thought nothing of sexually harassing the female members of the team and dismissing it as banter. Ably assisted I might add by the other men in the team. And no we weren’t young girls straight out of school but strong mature women in a difficult and responsible job. So ask me which environment I’d prefer and I’d have to say one with sensible, mature individuals with a commitment to the job and respect for their colleagues - don’t care whether they’re men or women but I appreciate the support I have had from other women during my career.

That's classic bullying nightowl horrible .

I think it’s to do with the quality of the person, not their gender. But while some women think it’s ‘cute’ to act all silly and girly, and to revel in being stupid then I suppose it’s sort of behaviour you talk about will continue.

What my problem is with this thread is that it’s doing exactly what some of the posters are complaining about - being ‘bitchy’ about other women, and making generalised sweeping statements.

I’ve worked with both sexes in various professional settings. Never found any difference between the sexes, except in the way those inclined to nastiness operate. It’s all about power and different sexes may well operate in a different way.

But to say that an all female setting is worse in this respect to an all male setting is not right. What some are painting in this thread is a picture of good humoured banter from males and ‘bitchiness’ from women.

Bollock!!

Crossed posts Nightowl - that’s exactly what I was saying about some males.

Gilly you can’t call one behaviour bullying and another bitchiness. .

I think you You can Anya . General bitchiness goes on day after day and the people doing it often don't even realise they are ( or do they?) they pass it off as @ a bit of fun" bullying us usually deliberately targeted and is "a step up" and much more serious.

I'm with Nightowl and Anya here. I loathe the use of 'bitchy/bitchiness/bitch' as a description for behaviour that needs calling out when it happens. It perpetuates the myth that women are somehow less reliable than men.
As a young woman I worked in environments that were male dominated and disliked the so called banter, yes it was sexual harassment and bullying that went on towards the smaller number of female staff members.
I've worked in all female or mixed gender environments and it's the people not the gender that counts. The best work places have a culture that doesn't join in gossip or talking about someone the minute their back is turned. If someone does behave like that, it's up to others to tell them we don't do that here.

Gosh it's not the gender but the person carrying out the unpleasant behaviour that seems to be the problem. Humans in a group eh? Some are nice some aren't. That's life!

Well maybe we will have to agree to disagree on this one. It's been a long time since I worked with any women at all. I Miss female company . My comments are based on other female relatives various experiences .

For the first few years of my career I worked in predominantly female environments, but I never experienced the bitchiness that is spoken of here; it was just cosy and rather dull. I much preferred working in a male /female environment, and when I did experience bitchiness, (rarely) it came from either sex. I hardly experienced any sexual harassment (what a dull life I must have led) but I did experience some mild bullying and ageist harassment towards the end of my career.

I've shared staff rooms with both lovely men and lovely women. Any agro was caused by the members who didn't pull their weight in what was a pretty stressed environment. Some of those were women and some were men. We got through it with gallows humour, lots of banter and much discrete support for colleagues who needed it. I don't think gender really entered into it. The idea of an all-women work force reminds me of the recent call for all-women train carriages. That fell flat, didn't it?

I can't imagine how any private sector employer could possibly want to encourage an all female workforce anyway, especially if the women are of child bearing age. It must play havoc with the work rotas not to mention the potential for several very long absences.

The only all-female company I can think of was FI Group and that changed after the sex discrimination act in the 1970s. I think it was around 1% men until then. They wrote computer software, including the flight box recorder programs for Concorde. If you have not aware of the founder, Stephanie Shirley, I can really recommend her Ted talk. An inspiring woman.