Queen bee syndrome: women who criticize others

Queen bee syndrome is a concept that, despite not being used in clinical settings and not referring to a disorder, is used by some people to refer to a pattern of social behavior that results harmful. Specifically, one that has to do with envy and competition between women.

In this article we will see what is queen bee syndrome, the way it expresses itself through personal relationships, and why it is harmful.

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What is queen bee syndrome?

It would seem logical that, since there is a female and a male gender, the people associated with each one of them felt more comfortable interacting with their peers for most of the time. weather. However, in the case of many women this is not the case, and they prefer the usual company of men. This phenomenon is a consequence of what we call queen bee syndrome.

And what is queen bee syndrome? Basically, it is a relational dynamic that leads some women to think that, by default, the rest of the women are their rivals or people who must be dominated

. In addition, this competitive and individualistic logic does not have to be a reflection of the personality of the woman in question, since it does not apply to her treatment of men.

Examples: the confrontations and rivalries it produces

To better understand what queen bee syndrome is, let's look at some typical examples that occur in many contexts.

1. Spread negative rumors

Getting a person to gain a bad name by speaking ill of them behind their back is relatively easy, and the consequences can be very painful. It is not even necessary to have reliable information: the curiosity for the stories of immorality and the ambiguity can lead to a totally fabricated or highly exaggerated story being believed.

In addition, the influence of sexism and machismo has led to many reasons to criticize a woman: aspects of her life are questioned that she would not make sense to criticize in the case of mens.

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2. Fight to stand out at all costs

Some women with queen bee syndrome who also have a personality expansive women feel bad if it is not clear that they are the ones that stand out the most compared to their companions. That is why, for example, when a new coworker arrives, there are times when she is received with cold hostility and certain passive-aggressive attitudes.

In extreme cases, it is possible to try to get the partner fired, since it is understood that by the simple fact of being women, if there is a free place that can be promoted, the competition will be between people of the same sex.

3. Criticism of physical appearance

The physical aspect is the great flank by which women are constantly attacked. It is something visible to everyone that can give rise to all kinds of understandable comments without having to know the personal context of who is being judged. As women have been valued for centuries primarily for their reproductive properties, Teasing related to her attractiveness has the ability to be especially humiliating.

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The opposite of sisterhood

Queen bee syndrome causes women to view others as potential enemies for no apparent reason. Thus, those who dedicate themselves body and soul to harming their companions do not need an excuse to distrust the others or to launch "preventive attacks."

But what makes queen bee syndrome weirder is that, considering that women have been in a situation of disadvantaged for millennia (and today, to a large extent, remain so in many respects and in most countries), it would be expect that non-cooperation between them be severely punished and it was so little advantageous that it disappeared. After all, in tough situations, life forms tend to band together to keep going.

That is why sorority, which is the female equivalent of fraternity, is something that totally collides with the queen bee syndrome. The existence of envy, rivalry and all kinds of quarrels between women for the type of being women fragments a group that is already damaged.

That is why this behavioral and social phenomenon is seen as a problem that is not only individual (the woman who gets used to interacting like this with other women create discomfort in them), but it is also social (unity is strength, and attacking it with bad excuses is negative).