Why don’t more women support each other? In a world of glass ceilings… a persistent gender pay gap… sexual harassment… rape… double standards… etc it is amazing to me to see the degree to which women do not support one another.
If a woman is sexually harassed or raped it is typical for male figures to question what she was wearing… what she was doing there… whether or not she had been drinking… did she lead him on… and pose other questions suggesting that she was somehow at fault. But just as often these questions come from other women.
When a woman runs for public office or excels in her career she faces scrutiny—from other women—that they never apply to male professionals. Such as who is looking after her kids? Is she a good mom? Who is minding the household while she is being ambitious?
When Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment in 1991 she was attacked on all sides—including other women—who posed questions like why did she wait so long before accusing him? Why did she continue to work with him?
Fast forward 27 years later… when Christine Blasey Ford accused Brett Kavanaugh of raping her at a party when they were students at Georgetown Preparatory School women like Senator Susan Collins of Maine, after hearing the testimony, said she believes “something” happened to Ms. Ford, but she doesn’t believe it was rape as described. So she voted to put Kavanaugh on the court.
Trump has had more than a dozen women accuse him of behaving inappropriately with them—including rape! Yet women continue to support him through his three wives and well documented multiple affairs—including an affair with a porn star while his third wife was pregnant. During the campaign I recall yard signs that said “Women for Trump.”
In her new book Katie Couric admits that while she was flying high at the Today show, she specifically did not mentor or help the young reporters behind her because she knew there was always someone younger and more perky coming up the ladder and she didn’t want to do anything to give herself any competition.
These are obviously high profile examples, but many more anonymous examples happen every day. Why don’t women support one another? Ideas? Theories? Personal experiences?
