Bullies, by their very nature, pick on those with less (perceived) power than the bully. And on those who strike envy into the bully's heart. It seems entirely logical that women would bully other women in the workplace, while men would bully both men and women.

Feminazis will get their way either by hook or crook. One needs only to parse the last federal election to realize a zero like Sarah Palin was "that close" to the red button. When in doubt, a feminist will always play the aces in the hole, victimhood, motherhood and that all-encompassing gender card that excuses the most venal of ideology. I thought that the 90's were over and that we could see ourselves as people first and gender-specific second. In case you were wondering, I grew up with a Mother that was as politically cut-throat and ball-busting as the next bra-burner and all that it gained her was scorn, ridicule and a passle of spoiled cats. Unfocused anger inevitably turns itself inward...

"...60 percent of workplace bullies are men, according a survey by the Workplace Bullying Institute. So the first part of the surprise is that there are women who bully in the first place, even if they apparently do so at much lower rates than their male colleagues (and one might argue that some people may have a fairly gendered definition of "bullying" in the first place)."

Hang on a moment. 2 female bullies for every 3 male bullies is a "much lower" rate?

Agreed to all of this. The fact that women tend to bully other women in the workplace rather than men is totally unsurprising. It proves nothing other than that women are people, and some people just aren't very nice.

As to the whole idea that women are "supposed" to be nurturing - bullshit. In terms of work situations, women are supposed to be competent employees. Really, that's it. If they also choose to be kind and empathic to other women they work with that's great, but it's not a requirement. Workplaces are competetive environments, and sometimes stressful, so really basic courtesy is about all we can reasonably demand of people. More would be nice, and I'd far rather work in environments where people do go out of their way to treat their coworkers well, but being nice is not some sort of special female-only job requirement.

I get that this global movement called feminism can only exist if one believes that women, as a class, are systematically discriminated against in similar ways...

...and it's corrolary: that one must find the discrimination everywhere one looks. This often requires that interpretation of all phenomena be twisted around a predetermined outcome. Consistency, logic and intellectual honesty should be discarded since women are always the biggest victims- even in situations where women receive better treatment then men do.

Having a victim mentality surely helps make the interpretation come-out the right way.

The sign on the ladie's restroom is slightly rusty, you say? DISCRIMINATION!!11!!! Don't even bother checking the sign on the men's room.

I think the underlying assumption behind these (gasp!) women are mean too! stories is that some believe women deserve equal rights and protection under the law because we are saintly.

Alternately, some might say, we DON'T deserve equal rights because we are NOT saintly.

Women should be treated fairly and with respect because we are people, not saints, and we should be given full rights and protections as citizens because we are citizens, not saints.

I feel I must speak up on behalf of Anne of Green Gables, myself, and all Annes that are Annes with an "E". Ann Coulter most definitely does NOT have an "E" on the end of her name!

Nice people swallow, good friends gag.

Can’t I just say I really fucking hate Anne Coulter?

I don't understand the point of hate. What use does it serve really? In my body it feels like an actual chemical toxin.

I think Ann Coulter is outrageous and ridiculous and even her own worst enemy. Whatever legitimate concerns she has are overpowered by the corrosive effects of her own hatefulness.

Which I suppose is my answer to your question.

Why shouldn't you hate Ann Coulter?

Because she is a hateful person. By hating her you end up validating her basic approach to the world, which makes you her ally, not her adversary.

Yep, that really is what all this boils down to. I actually wrote a paper about this in college. There have always been two competing philosophies underlying feminism, one of which is that women deserve equal rights because we're people and the other of which is that women deserve equal rights because we're special, pure, good, kind, nurturing people who will have a positive influence on the public sphere if given more power. Personally I think the second philosophy is bullshit, and dangerous counterproductive bullshit too.

You can usually tell which perspective any given feminist is coming from pretty easily. I tend to dismiss those coming from the pure virtuous womanhood will save the world perspective pretty quickly. It's really just the same old sexist nonsense wrapped in prettier packaging.

Although in my company the ratio is probably the other way around. Of the four nastiest people in my workplace, three are women. The fourth -- the man -- is probably the least nasty, he just has a bad habit of talking without thinking. The other three are just loathsome, contemptible excuses for human beings -- and naturally are consistently promoted and therefore rewarded for their noxious behavior, which the up-and-coming rightly (at least in context) view as the way to get ahead around here. Three cheers for Corporatelandia

Being female doesn't give you a pass on shitty behavior, and it certainly doesn't obligate me to like or respect you.

Of mean women around ....

I don't understand why women need necessary be nice to each other. I mean, why women especially? Why not people in general? Aren't women persons too? Aren't they individuals? Aren't women capable of judging one another as individuals and therefore decide on a case by case basis whether each woman is individually, as a person, worth being nice, indifferent or mean to? Why should women behave any differently towards other women, than they would towards people in general? Is womanhood the sole characteristic that defines women, so that there is no need to consider any other trait when deciding how to relate to them?

Do you even realize how offensive this state of mind is?