The Queen Bee syndrome – Women against women at the workplace
The typical Queen Bee types show standard Alpha Male characteristics – dominant, ambitious, result driven and somewhat insecure about those who might hinder her development. She actually feels threatened by other women who might be younger, better or more ambitious
From page 1 We have all heard the stories, the legends, the gripes about her – the senior female executive who isn’t really attuned to the blooming careers of younger women under her. As much as I, like the rest of sisterhood, would love to deny it, it does exist. Specifically, she does exist. As women, all of us have met her, at one time or another and we recall the horror stories of the Queen Bee (QB), a term developed by a team of psychologists back in 1974, which included a Sri Lankan as well. Staines, Tavris and Jayaratne developed the concept of ‘Queen Bee’, based on a study of over 20,000 people.
“The Queen Bee who is successful in a male-dominated field feels little animosity toward the system that permitted her to reach the top, and little animosity toward the men who praise her for being so unique. She identifies with the specific male colleagues who are her reference group, rather than with the diffuse concept of women as a class. The Queen Bee thereby disassociates herself from the fundamental issues of equality for women, while reassuring her male colleagues that she is not of that militant ilk,” was how they defined their concept.
She is the glass ceiling
The Queen Bee has often had to work her way up the ladder the hard way. She doesn’t merely believe in the Glass Ceiling; she is the glass ceiling. She seems to pursue a singular rationale – she has had to work as hard as any man and it would only be fair that the women who came after her should not have it any easier. Some believe that the Queen Bee also acts out of lesser conclusive motives – such as envy and envy’s cousin, jealousy.
In a study that supports the Queen Bee theory, the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin conducted a research exercise in which older female participants clearly showed prejudice against female leaders than male or younger participants. The concept as a valid ground for harassment at the work place has found favour, with so many law suits being filed against Queen Bee personalities who either threatened or sabotaged the career of a younger woman.
The typical Queen Bee types show standard Alpha Male characteristics – dominant, ambitious, result driven and somewhat insecure about those who might hinder her development. She actually feels threatened by other women who might be younger, better or more ambitious. Among the favourite weapons in her arsenal are criticism of (the other women’s) work, discouragement, nonrecognition of achievements and applying a microscopic view to their work in order to find fault.
More of a ‘guy’ than a ‘gal’
According to the experts, the Queen Bee does not engage in healthy competition which is good for the work place. Instead, she uses the power of authority she holds in order to intimidate or bully women in up and coming positions. The Queen Bee is not very female-friendly, on the whole.
You could say she is more of a ‘guy’ than a ‘gal’ and will not stick up for women’s rights.
Since the initial study broke ground as way back as 1974, further studies have shown that most women dread working for a woman. They also find it stressful because ‘you never know what QB gets up to’. Yet, happily, not all female bosses are Queen Bees and will allow women to come up at the work place, nurture them and encourage them.
Some believe that the QBS do what they do in order to show the world that they do not favour women over men. Instead of finding common ground in being emphatic and multi-tasking, the Queen Bees never bond with the women under her. Instead, she contributes tremendously to the stress experienced by the women under her - some women have actually given up work when faced with a QB.
Bond with female workers important
So what does that tell us – have those labelled as Queen Bees actually had the time to look inward and realize that prejudice towards other women actually hurts us all in the long run, maybe if she could, she would? Can we teach younger women aspiring for positions of authority that bonding with your fellow female workers is important if the sisterhood is to thrive and source better, bigger opportunities for women everywhere?
There are various reasons why people do what they do. In the case of Queen Bee, perhaps the times she climbed the ladder, the experiences she faced, the bitterness of being one of the few women in a man’s world has coloured her view of women climbing the ladder more easily, with less prejudice and even less at stake. Women back then did not have maternity leave and child care facilities. They did not have day care centres and husbands who helped. They did not have the perks that most women today can look forward to. Maybe the Queen Bee feels she is justified in doing what she does but in the end, she is only holding on to a grudge that does nothing for her or for the women whose progress she seeks to halt or limit.
“People with clenched fists cannot shake hands” – Indira Gandhi
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