Men vs. Women: Being a "Boss"

Every girl loves Cosmopolitan, whether they like to admit it or not.  The cover sometimes makes me blush if I leave it around where there are people who are not my 20-something-year-old female friends. Regardless, it can be a good read.

Yesterday, I read an article that got me thinking. This time, it was more than just "10 Ways to Look Great on a Budget" or the one about the "new move to try tonight" (?). No, none of that this time. The article was titled "Why Are We So Hard On Women Bosses?" It talks about how women significantly differ from men in the workplace, especially when involving a leadership role. Women can't just ask for something to be done; they need to say it politely. But! - not too politely, because then they're a pushover. If it's not done politely, though, they're immediately labeled a b****. Tricky, isn't it? How does a woman find the perfect balance? But for a guy, he can practically do what he wants, and people will be okay with it.

The article went on to talk about how this difference, this trickiness, between men and women originates when we're practically kindergarteners. When little boys play, they're in groups of 5 or 6. It's okay for little boys to brag about making the last shot. It's acceptable for them to say "pass ME the ball!" Me, me, me, me, me. They can gloat and run around getting high fives from their buddies until their hands turn red. Girls, on the other hand, cannot. Girls are typically in smaller groups, and if a little girl were to brag about perfectly brushing her doll's hair, the other little girls would think she was prissy and she would lose friends. Cosmo says, most simply, that boys can brag and girls can't. Other boys will still be his friend if he's a little self-indulged, but this doesn't go for girls. See how it fits in the workplace? Guys can be firm, demanding, etc, and it's okay.

I thought about this for a long time and the more I thought about it, the more it sort of bothered me. It's 2014. You would think that, even though we say that men and women are "equal", that this would apply across the spectrum. It's really not fair that women have to find the perfect balance of sugar-coating and "headstrong-ness", for lack of a better term, to be considered a good boss. I'm frustrated.

I'm frustrated, but I get it. I can even see it in classrooms. Kids respond differently to males than females. Why? When a man stands in front of them, I notice a small mix of respect and fear. When a woman is there, there's more fooling off. I don't get it.

I'm not writing this to offer a solution, and I don't mean for this to sound like a rant. I'm simply stating it. It's just bizarre to me that in this day and age that it's still present. I'd say it's time we stop acting a certain way around someone based off their gender. If a boss, man or woman, worked hard enough to deserve the position he or she is in, that person deserves respect. And there you have it - just respect people. The end.