In a study conducted by a Ph.D candidate in the University of Texas, United States, Jaime Confer, participants were asked whom they most often try to impress by owning ‘nice things.’ Preliminary results revealed that men try to impress women, while women try to impress fellow women.
Earlier, a study by Kelly Valen had shown that many women had been ill-treated by fellow women, more than in the hands of men. The study found that almost 90 per cent of the over 3,000 women who took part in her study said they had frequently experienced harsh and negative treatment from other women, while men have been somewhat kind to them.
“The study revealed that almost 90 per cent of the 3,000-plus women who took part in the survey frequently felt currents of meanness and negativity emanating from other females. Almost 85 per cent of those who took part in the 50-question survey admitted having suffered serious, life-altering knocks in the hands of other women,” Valen wrote in her book, titled ‘The twisted sisterhood.’
Also a research by the Institute of Leadership and Management on ambition and gender revealed that some women lack self-belief and a strong competing advantage, thus, being cautious or reluctant to take on other women for the fear of being shut out.
The study pointed out that such women tend to knock on other women to mitigate their bad feeling by assuming that a fellow woman got the job because she was good-looking or that she must have slept with some important men.
“There was a distinct undercurrent of meanness and negativity plaguing the female gender, and these secret, social battles are waged, in many cases, by the very same women singing the praises of girl power, feminism, and female friendship,” she added in a report posted on huffingtonpost.com.
An article by Women in Higher Education also pointed out that relationships are central to women’s lives and they expect their relationships to be on a level playing field, and that when something – anything – affects this balance, such as promotion, it raises feelings of insecurity.
According to the article, underscores the reason why on entering a gathering, women quickly, but silently, do an assessment and judge themselves on looks, age and sex appeal.
The article pointed out that women are relieved when another woman is not much more attractive than they are, noting that the more insecure a woman is, the more time she is likely to spend on her appearance and the more she tends to discredit other women who she sees as competitors, so as to avail herself some good feeling.
“Though we hate to admit it, we still judge each other on looks, age and sex appeal. This is terrible, but true. When women find themselves in a marginalised position within the family, they may react by trying to be extremely good, or go on the offensive to prove they are smarter and better than other women. This implies that women are more likely to judge their abilities against those of other female colleagues than males,” it added.
Reacting to the study, a professor of psychology, Toba Elegbeleye, said even though the idea has not been subjected to any serious research in this part of the world, women could only be their own enemies because of the attitude of jealousy that is more profound in them.
He said, “They are harsher on their female counterparts, and I believe it is out of envy. According to women, they will prefer to align with the opposite sex because a man would let them know their mind about issues while their female counterparts are likely to be jealous. And that is why women disclose more deep-seated problems to male friends than to females.
“Jealousy is usually the problem but it has not been subjected to any serious research around here. It’s just a feeling, and women themselves do confess to it. Casual observation will support that women while in authority may be a little harsher over their female counterparts, and men are not spared sometimes. It has got to do with their make-up as women.”
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