The Gender-ation Gap at Work

Despite all of the negative comments about Salon’s new Broadsheet, I’m loving it. This interview with Nan Mooney, author of “I Can’t Believe She Did That! Why Women Betray Other Women at Work,” is especially interesting:

There was a time when women were just breaking into these professional areas, when, yes, it was important that they give the appearance of supporting each other. It was an us-against-them setup. But one of the great victories of the feminist movement is that now we form an impressive, powerful professional body and we can start looking within that body at what the dynamics are.

True, it’s not fun to talk about women making things difficult for each other. But it happens. I know I’ve witnessed women sabotage other women (both intentionally and unintentionally) in the workplace— and also in overtly feminist settings.

Women in the workplace have a generation gap that men don’t have. We joined the workforce so recently that women who came in 20 years ago really are having an entirely different work experience than women today.

The book presents a good opportunity to talk about how one of the things that second-wave feminists pushed so hard for– more women in positions of power in the workplace– has played out for women of younger generation(s).
Ladies, is it easier to work with/for men than women? And, at the risk of sounding like a human-resources video, any suggestions on how to collaborate with female coworkers and still retain your competitive edge?
For the bored and curious, Mooney’s website has a quiz, Are you at risk for on the job betrayal?

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