UK: Founder of women-only-as-employees company recounts results

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2009-04-07 19:33

Excellent article here, written by a female boss who thought it would be a good idea to set up an all female business... BIG mistake, as she now realizes. Excerpt:

'Over in one corner sat Alice, a strong-minded 27-year-old who always said what she thought, regardless of how much it might hurt someone else. In the other corner was Sarah, a thirtysomething high-flier who would stand up for herself momentarily - then burst into tears and run for the ladies.

Their simmering fight lasted hours, egged on by spectators taking sides and fuelling the anger. Sometimes other girls would join in, either heckling aggressively or huddling defensively in the toilets. It might sound like a scene from a tawdry reality show such as Big Brother, but the truth is a little more prosaic: it was just a normal morning in my office.

The venomous women were supposedly the talented employees I had headhunted to achieve my utopian dream - a female- only company with happy, harmonious workers benefiting from an absence of men.

It was an idealistic vision swiftly shattered by the nightmare reality: constant bitchiness, surging hormones, unchecked emotion, attention-seeking and fashion rivalry so fierce it tore my staff apart.

When I read the other day that Sienna Miller had said there was no such thing as 'the Sisterhood', I knew what she meant.
...
In hindsight, I should have learned the lessons of my past - at my mixed secondary school I was bullied by a gang of nasty, name-calling girls, so I knew only too well how nasty groups of women could become.

And working in TV, I'd met lots of super-competitive 'door-slammers' who'd do anything to get to the top. But I told myself that, with the right women, work could be wonderful.

So, in April 2005, I left my job, remortgaged my house - freeing up close to £100,000 - and began paying myself just £700 a month to set up this utopian business. Having worked extremely hard for 12 years, I had lots of experience and a good reputation. What could go wrong?'

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Comments

... balance is needed in all things. The Chinese got that right.

As for deliberately pursuing a policy of hiring only women... hey, isn't that, like, just a wee bit illegal? To hang out a sign that says "Women only need apply", or to act that way in any case? Guess not!

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Submitted by mcc99 on Tue, 2009-04-07 19:38

Wonder if they'll post it...

"40 years of social engineering can't undo 100,000 years of evolution. Humanity is a transitional species. We are going from Homo Erectus to Homo (something else, no name for it yet). In the mean time, Homo Sapiens is what we are and what we have to deal with being. We have brains capable of amazing things. However we have brains that are also largely centered on eating, sleeping, reproducing (or at least scrogging), and staying safe. To that end, we have evolved not just as a sexed species but also have specialized our roles based largely on our sexes. Women are generally very good cooperative child-rearers and tend to work well together and bond emotionally when together in that fashion. Men tend to do the same when together dealing with "external affairs", such as working "out there" and dealing with common threats. Not to say the sexes can't do the jobs of the opposite sex; they can. It's just that most times, they won't enjoy it nearly as much as people of the other sex."

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Submitted by mcc99 on Tue, 2009-04-07 20:20

As any farm boy will tell you, a chicken coop with only hens is a slaughter waiting to happen.

But add only one rooster, and things fall into order damned quick.

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Submitted by Belgorod on Tue, 2009-04-07 21:15

This story really makes you wonder how schools with all-female staffs function.

I realize that a production company associated with the entertainment industry is likely to be somewhat narcissistic by its very nature

But really...how different would an all female staff at your neighborhood school be?

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Submitted by Belgorod on Wed, 2009-04-08 00:07

The schools appear to function. We spend more on schools in this country than any other industrialized nation and we lag behind them. The school systems, run by women, are more concerned with social engineering and how you feel about yourself as opposed to actually learning how to get ready for the working world.

I have guardianship of a 15 yo boy and he got into a fight at school. It was cleary self defense on his part. A fight that lasted maybe 10 seconds. We are now fighting assault charges in court. If the school was run by men there would have been school and parental punishment. Instead the female principal calls the police. Now my kid and the other will probably have a crimminal record.

Schools function? Only in appearance.

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Submitted by patriotsofamerica on Wed, 2009-04-08 11:20

This sounds like a good idea for a reality show. That should salvage her investment--just mount cameras and hidden microphones throughout the office. Next season: an all-male office and let's see the difference in results.

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Submitted by klp on Wed, 2009-04-08 17:55

... have their way just a little longer.

Give 'em enough rope, and eventually they'll hang themselves. What this woman has done is do our job for us, as surely as any woman could.

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Submitted by sirprince on Thu, 2009-04-09 11:08

This little "utopian experiment" underlines a basic fact: women can only successfully unite against men; men can unite to do anything except protect themselves from women. It's how males and females are raised. Gotta go.

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Submitted by Hunchback on Thu, 2009-04-09 11:48

Ya, it makes you wonder why the hell people always get uncomfortable when you disagree such stereotypical views

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Submitted by darc on Thu, 2009-04-09 21:26