Is it normal to hate working with all one sex?

I worked in women's retail for too long, and eventually hated the fact that I rarely got to see or talk to a man.

I also found when women work together with no male influence regardless of their age, or education level, eventually they get really gossipy talking behind each others back, and it feels likes someone is always complaining.

I'm sure if I worked with all men I would get sick of them too, and would be so happy just to talk to a woman for a second.

Is it normal?

Voting Results
95% Normal
Based on 62 votes (59 yes)
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Comments ( 49 )
  • dappled

    I spent a couple of years working in a male-only team. It was actually pretty easy. I also had one job where I was one of only two men and the other man was so feminine, he might as well have been a woman. That environment was great too.

    I think it's harder being a woman in a woman-only team than it is being a man in any other type of team. My sister has had awful problems in the past.

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  • It really depends (to a degree), in my opinion, on where you live and work. Where I am currently my female coworkers are more gossipy (in a catty way) and less open/carefree than I was use to at my last last job. (That's not to say they aren't fun to work with because they are.) For instance, I notice a lot more talking about other workers and even customers in a negative light. Mainly making fun of these people. At my first job it wasn't like this. If someone didn't like someone/something or was annoyed with them that person would know it. It worked out much better that way. It felt like a giant family, kind of like IIN.

    I worked at a fabric and crafts store for a month before my current job and it was hell. Two of the managers had sticks so far up their ass and you could feel everyone else feeding off their negative energy. Somber as fuck. No one had fun for a second.

    In general, from my experience, men are less gossipy and more laid back. That's not to say they aren't though. One friend and coworker of mine was probably one of the biggest drama "kings" I've ever met. So was one male manager at the same place. However, when they got this way they really GOT this way, full force. Everyone knew to get out the way when they veered the corner or pester them incessantly until they snapped the fuck out of it.

    I would rather choose to work with a variety of people, male and female, but what really matters is the group dynamics. As with the fabric store, even just one person of high influence can shatter the entire order.

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  • kelili

    I'm the only female on my workplace and I like it. Guys gossip too but less than females. But the fact that I work with only men (most of whom could be my father) has affected me in a way I did not expect. Firstly I have found out that it's very difficult for me to have a conversation with a girl or more precisely a pleasant one. I wear the same pair of pants each day changing only tops which I definitely think I would not do if I worked with many females

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    • Bubbles-for-life

      Is firstly even a word O.o

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  • I have heard that an all woman's work place tends to be terrible, but there are many areas that are all male workplaces such as construction that get along just fine and without any social problems.

    Ofcourse, what do I know. I'm just a sexist guy, right? (Aimed at the users that will down vote this simply because I didn't go against reality to suit their beliefs).

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    • KeddersPrincess

      I'm going to have to go with ItDuz on this one. Typically, when you put a bunch of men in the room, they usually find something to laugh about or conversate about, and all in all, get along. And even when they do fall out, they don't tend ot stay angry at each other for long.

      Women are very grudgy, and one reason why I often find it hard to make friends with other females, is because they do like to gossip and envy one another. Also, alot of girls have this thing (and I'm not saying all girls, ladies, I don't fall underneath this catagory, and I sure a lot of you don't either so don't get mad) where they look at other girls, and in other words, they constantly check each other out, comparing whose prettier or has a bigger chest or whatever. Women can be very complicated which is why I think it's so difficult for them to get along, where as men tend to know what they like and don't sweat the small stuff. Plus, the overactive hormones and mood swings do to the menstrual cylce probably have a lot to play in that as well.

      But yeah, all in all, I can definatly understand where the OP is coming from on this. These are just things I've observed. It's not sexist. It makes sense, and it's very true, and I think if a lot of you think about it, you will agree.

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    • Lynxikat

      You do realize you're just asking to get your comment down voted by saying "Aimed at suers that will down vote simply because I didn't go against reality to suit their beliefs"?

      Women in general are more catty and gossipy than men; therefore, it would make sense why an all-male work environment would barely have kind of social problems.

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      • You're kidding, right? Why do you think I mentioned that part? Because even when I don't add that part, it is still down thumbed.

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        • iEatZombies_

          A lot of said users won't thumbs you down in said comment specifically because it'll prove you right- which they seem to unintentionally do often.

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    • Corleone

      Weren't you the guy who said that "women do noting but leech off a society that men built"?
      I won't downvote you for having a differing opinion, I only downvote you when you're trying to make your bullshit claims pass off as facts.

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      • I don't believe that was me, but I do believe it to an extent.
        Males literally build civilization with very little help from women. It wasn't until civilization got far that women were able to actually contribute.

        You can say that it is because they didn't have any rights to do it, but that is just an irrational point given that present day proves that wrong. The jobs done then are jobs that still need done now, and barely any females help in those areas that help maintain society, such as building buildings, water systems, roads, delivering foods, working to gain the fuels society needs to function.

        Civilization is man made, and yes, in a sense the female gender is leeching off of the male gender greatness, but do I think they shouldn't be allowed to? Ofcourse not, males don't mind. Just don't try to take the contributions the male gender is responsible for and pass it off as your own contributions, because then you lose the morality sense of why the female gender should be able to use what man makes.

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        • Lynxikat

          But let's be honest here, in the most civilizations, women have been regarded as the weaker sex, and them doing anything but getting married and having kids would have been completely impossible. You can't exactly say women are useless because they've barely contributed anything to society when the majority of them throughout history were never given that chance in the first place. I can't think of a single civilization that valued women just as much as men. Does that mean that women are automatically weaker and lesser than men? I don't know. My history isn't really that good, so I don't really know why that seems to be a common theme in so many cultures.

          As for working in construction, delivering food, building roads, building water systems; any kind of manual labor you said listed doesn't help your argument. Of COURSE women aren't going to do any of those things because they require PHYSICAL STRENGTH (Yes, driving a truck and delivering food does require strength; they're the ones that take out all those heavy packages). Men are physically stronger than women; that's a fact. Men have more testosterone than women, therefore it's easier for them to gain more muscle to make them strong. Which is why men, not women, work manual labor.

          And sorry that you probably won't like this argument, but it's true: women in general have a harder time than men when it comes to getting jobs that would help "maintain society". Sorry, but it's true. The reason that there are barely any women who work in higher positions isn't simply the "men > women" explanation you would probably give. When a woman has a family, she is generally seen as the caregiver. So it's more difficult for her to balance being a caregiver and having a high powered job that would help "maintain society". And how do you explain the fact that women are generally paid less than men? Is that because "men > women"? But what if they do the same amount of work, and the man get paid a dollar more than the female? How do you explain that?

          And what woman has taken contributions from the male sex and pass it off as her own? That's a broad statement, do you think you could be more specific? Like what, did women try to say that THEY were the ones responsible for the Constitution existing, or THEY were the ones responsible for the colonization of the Americas? Did some woman claim that SHE invented the cotton gin, or claimed that she discovered that the earth revolved around the sun? Do you think you can give me an example?

          FYI, you believing that "being a good mother also involves making sure they have a good father, due to how statistics show that most criminals tend to be raised by single mothers" IS sexist, no matter how you spin it. Being a good mother means raising your child to being a decent human being and not screwing shit up. Being a good PARENT in general, no matter the gender, involves taking care of the child, showing them love, and raising them to be a good person. And just because a person is raised by a single mother doesn't mean that they'll turn out to be criminal. It also comes with the environment. A person raised by a single mother in the ghetto is more likely to turn out to be a criminal than a person raised by a single mother living in a well-kept suburb. And a person raised by a healthy, normal single mother is less likely to be a criminal than the a person raised by the alcoholic father & the drug-induced mother. A person doesn't HAVE to have both parents in order to be a respectable, human being. And if a single mother is working 24/7 to support her child, she doesn't really have time to make sure that they have a "good father".

          You've done this before, writing off the involvement of women during pregnancy. Yes, men produce thousands of sperm, but the woman is the one that ultimately takes care of the child when she's pregnant; she's the one that gives it nutrients, make sure she doesn't do anything that would harm the child. You say that "both are involved" but you've always had this tone that women don't do that much when it comes to reproduction, and that it's mostly the men doing the work.

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          • You are trying to justify why women are not contributing to such things as building improvements to civilization by how women 'were' treated.
            That was then, this is now. Women are allowed to do these things now, yet still don't.
            Women are able to contribute to the construction industry if they want to now, and it is even easier now than it was when they weren't allowed, and yet they still choose not to. Coincidence? I think not.
            Women now have the chance to prove they can do what men can to see if it is incorrect that men can do what women can't, yet would rather just adopt the equal brand instead of working towards it.
            Women weren't allowed then, but they are allowed now. So what is their excuse for not doing it now? The jobs back then are the same ones needing done now, just far more easier. So if women fought to be able to do what men worked as because they weren't allowed, then are are allowed, yet still are not joining such work forces, you cannot blame it that they weren't allowed, because they are now, yet won't.

            Ok, so the reason why women are not doing all these things that 'need' done is because they 'can't' do it...Well does that not suggest men are superior? If women are unable to do these things that we 'need' to keep society/civilization maintained and progressing, does that not show that women are infact less than males, given that what we need to maintain what we have achieved is something women cannot do?
            So your argument to suggest the genders are equal is that because women can't do the things that are required to keep civilization maintained, it is unfair, so therefor by default they are equal to those that 'can' do the things needed to maintain civilization?...What?

            Let me bring you to a part in your first paragraph: "I can't think of a single civilization that valued women just as much as men. Does that mean that women are automatically weaker and lesser than men?".

            Well if women cannot do the things that were required in the workplace, and were incapable of doing many things do to their lack of strength, then yes, that does make them inferior.

            So because they are biologically superior and capable of more due to their biology, it is unfair to women because they did not get the same biology, and therefor are seen as equal by default?

            I'm sorry, I just find it hard to go in to full depth here. You are unintentionally agreeing with everything I have said.

            Ok, you are just completely contradicting yourself that is hard to bare. At first you are saying how men are far better at doing the jobs that society 'needs' done, then complain about women not being able to get those jobs...? Well if men are far superior to women in those lines of work that society needs, then it is justified, is it not? They lack the strength to do it, which is what 'you' stated.
            So, hold on. You are blaming why men are in higher positions of society because women make 'choices' like having a family, then have to take responsibility for their choices?
            There have been many studies that show that the reason why men get further than women is because males tend to be more professionally driven, where as women are more likely to choose less high pay jobs. Psychology has also studied and claimed this.

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            • So now you are saying that it is her 'caregiver' stgatus that holds her back from help[ maintaining society, when before you blamed it on strength. Which one is it? I have an answer for both.

              How do I explain women getting paid less? Again, women's life choices, which again has been stated by psychologists.
              Not only that, males are far more likely to risk their health and safety than females are in a job, and so deserve more pay. This is easily noticed when you see how 95% of the workforce deaths are males.
              Again, completely justified reasons.
              There is no explanation, because that does not happen nearly as much as you think it does. Men risk more and tend to find jobs that pay higher, where as women don't and try to find jobs that are social. Again, this has been shown by psychologists.

              Well actually, yes. Many women say that 'without us giving birth, they would not be able to do it, so we do just as much', in an attempt to try get seen as doing just as much.
              But in the more natural statements, women will usually say "Women done all this work, they were just never noticed because men wouldn't allow them to be seen as contributers".
              Well if that was the case, and nobody was able to find out and didn't find out, then how did 'you' find it out?
              In which they tend to be quiet and make excuses not to answer.

              Ok, so let me get this straight, it is sexist to state a 'fact'? It is a 'fact' that most criminals were raised by single mothers. That is not blind assumption, that is 'fact'. Simply because you dislike hearing it does not make it any less true or sexist. It is sexist to assume someone else is sexist simply because they state something females don't like hearing.
              The next bit is just stupid, yet again.

              "Being a good mother means raising your child to being a decent human being and not screwing shit up".
              Yes, and making sure that the child has a respectable father figure and mother figure tends to lessen their problems. Are you implying fathers are not needed for a child to be properly raised? Again, stupidity.

              "Just because someone is raised by a single mother does not mean they will be a criminal"...Where did I say it would? I said that the majority of criminals are raised by single mothers, not that the majority of children raised by single mothers are criminals. It might be true, but I have not looked in to it, so I will not say it is.
              Although, a child is more likely to be a criminal if raised by a single mother. Statistics show that.

              Yes, the environment does matter. A child raised with both a mother and father figure environment is more likely to not become a criminal than child raised in a single mother environment.

              Again, I never said all children raised by single mothers are criminals, I said that most criminals were raised by single mothers, which implies it is more likely for single mothered children to become criminals.
              Once again, psychologists have studied this.

              No, she can't do that while working 24/7, so you know what she should of done? Not got pregnant to a guy that would not stick around or be an asshole.
              She should have a child 'after' she found a respectable man.

              Actually, I disagree. Who do you think is more likely to have a healthy child, a woman in the wilderness, or a woman that has shelter built by men, food delivered by men, water from water systems made by men, and so on.
              Men have made it far more easier for women to have children than when we were primitive.
              If you want to test that, if you fall pregnant, do so with no touch of male contribution, see how well you do.

              A lot of mothers actually do smoke and drink while the child is inside them, so don't act as if all women don't.

              Where did I ever say that men do most of the work in reproduction? I never said that. I said both are needed for it, and that men have made it far easier for women to go through pregnancy. I have never said men go through the same as women that are pregnant.

              I honestly had trouble replying to this one. You mention one thing in one paragraph, then make the next paragraph that either answers or contradicts your first and second paragraph.

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        • You're forgetting who does the a large part of the work in building our civilization is women because women give birth to the babies and then take care of them and raise them to be members of society. It only takes one man to give a million sperm but it takes a million women to make a million babies. Don't forget how difficult a job being a GOOD mother is.

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          • Ofcourse. Because reproductive work (primal instinct) is as impressive as the world of intelligence (intelligence).

            No. Women do not do the large part of society by building simply because they gave birth to those that build. In that case, men would get the credit for women falling pregnant, right?
            You are saying here, in short and blunt: "Women do a big part of building because without them, the men couldn't be born to do such things".

            Now using 'your' rationality here (no doubt you will say it is wrong, even when it is 'your' rationality)
            "Well, you are forgetting that without men ejaculating their sperm in to the woman, she could not fall pregnant, so that means that men do a large part of pregnancy, in which they then do both a large part in pregnancy and building".

            Same reasoning.

            Simply because someone gives birth to someone does not make them responsible for the human that was born's greatness. Do you now how leech like that sounds? Can't do what your offspring does, so just say you do as much because you gave birth to him?

            Again, you are doing what so many women do. You assume women make the babies on their own. No. It take a million sperm in order to make a million babies. Both are needed. And in fact, males can take part in reproducing hundreds a year to making children, where as women can only contribute by helping making one child every year.

            Being a good mother also involves making sure they have a good father, due to how statistics show that most criminals tend to be raised by single mothers.

            So no, women are not at all responsible for building civilization.
            Reproducing and making civilization are two separate things.

            Reproduction is needed by both man and woman, and it's goal is to make more children, not to make children to grow up to build.

            Construction is needed by men.

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            • Hello friend,

              If you care to explore the world you live in, you will see many great women thinkers, inventors, and constructors. You have internet access therefore you have the opportunity to learn that with a simple web search if you so choose.

              There are a multitude of women on Earth with an IQ higher than yours, and with muscles bigger than yours. This is not meant to insult you, but instead a mere fact that there is always someone bigger, and smarter than you, and some of them happen to be female, believe it or not. Failing to realize this shows you don't know as much as you claim to.

              The thing between your legs actually means less than you perceive it to. If you understand biology then you will also understand that sex is not just male and female. Sex is also in part the chemical and hormonal make up of the entire mind and body. There are men with female minds and less "masculine" bodies, and vice versa, with everything in between. You may not like it, but that's the truth.

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        • Corleone

          Yes, you said that. Go to this story. http://isitnormal.com/poll/i-believe-a-married-man-has-a-crush-on-me-134365/#comment-1257221

          This is what you said: "Yes, men built society and civilization, maybe with a "small" ammount of help in some minor areas from women, but in no way did women contribute to the progression of our society or civilization."

          I've already had a long discussion with you about why I find this bullshit, so I won't do it again. But I just wanted to make clear that we don't downvote you because we want you to go against reality.

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          • Took me a while to find the comment.
            I tend to miss out parts of which I state things, and I can only assumed I missed out the part that was supposed to say progressed at an early stage, given that I clearly mention that women have helped in a small amount, then say after that they haven't helped at all. It would of contradtcited what I said in the first paragraph, so obviously I missed a few words when typing, which is something I do often by mistake.

            Believe me, I lack the energy to debate with the majority of people here. I have come to learn that finding females on here that can go on rationality instead of the mentality of "This makes me look like less, this offends me, therfor it must be wrong".

            You may have not noticed, but I barely come on here anymore.

            If you didn't want to continue this discussion, then I don't see why you replied to me in the first part.
            Was this your method of having your say, then not wanting me to have mine, to have them fall of deaf ears? Because I'll be honest with you, I would not be surprised if it was.

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            • Corleone

              No, you can have your opinion on things. But saying that women did little for society isn't an opinion. "I like cats" or "Family Guy is a better show than Glee", those are opinions.

              "Women do little for society" is a false statement.

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            • LesserKnownCharacter

              Interesting conversation, I must say.

              In our modern world, one person or gender cannot take all the credit for building or creating anything. It takes teams of people to make anything happen.

              Before the 1800's, no one even knows how many women invented anything as they were not allowed to, so using any example before women were allowed to patent things isn't fair or accurate. There's no way to tell whether a man or woman invented it. Even after that, women were so oppressed so it's still an iffy area.

              It takes financial backing, clerical work, permits, legal work, studies, and so forth. DO you even realize how much work goes into deciding and studying whether or not a stop sign or a traffic light is needed?

              Yes, one person may come up with an idea, however it's not patented or sold overnight by magic. Many great men credit their mother or wife most of all for their support. Nikola Tesla, arguably one of the greatest inventor of late, got his inventiveness from his mother.

              All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother. -Abraham Lincoln

              My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her. -George Washington

              The hand that rocks the cradle
              Is the hand that rules the world.
              -W. R. Wallace

              Speaking of selling, if you take away the buying power of females, you would have very little or no success.

              You speak of building buildings and systems. Yes, mostly men do the physical work, but there's so much other work that gets done in order to do the job. You can't just wake up one day and go build a house or put in a sewer system. Maybe a few hundred years ago you could but not these days. Without one piece of the puzzle, there can be no job done.

              Let me explain. I work in a metal shop. I build things. However, I can't build a goddamn thing (to specs) without blueprints, I can't get my materials without going through the supply and purchasing department, and all of this is financed by the company's owners. We have a legal team, we have sales people, accountants and everything else. If one of those jobs wasn't done, no job would get done. I'd have no job if no one bought our products (many of our customers are hospitals and doctors who cater to women's health). I don't fault the fat drafters or the short, weak accountants for doing their jobs just because I'm much bigger and stronger than them. So I'm a buff dude, big deal, that alone doesn't make me greater than anyone else, unless I suppose we're talking about engaging in a street fight.

              Women make up about 48% of the US workforce. You can make all the crap you want, but SOMEONE has to buy it, at least about half of those 'someones' are females.

              ALL jobs are important. The job doesn't have to be physically demanding, nor does it need to be genius. Most people are not geniuses or physically fit. If everyone was then there'd be no one to do all the little shit jobs behind the scenes that keep everything running.

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  • ccjigsaw

    ItDuz never fails to turn a perfectly good question into it's own thread about how men are superior to women.

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  • dom180

    ^^ Least entertaining comments section ever.

    I saw a programme on the BBC a few weeks ago (I'm not sure what it was called, it was presented by successful entrepreneur Hilary Devey), and one of the things it mentioned was how women and men work in teams in a business context. Men in business tend to be very authoritative, and having a lot of men in a team led to them arguing and acting defensively against each other instead of working together. The women were the opposite; initially too democratic to form a strong decision and then going the way of the men anyway. The mixed sex team always gave the best results in the fastest time because they competed not to make each other seem worse as the same-sex teams did, but to make themselves seem best. They were driven by friendly competition, not passive-aggression.

    Not strictly on topic, but I thought it was interesting. A male-female balance is a good thing. Obviously there's exceptions and same-sex teams which do well and mixed-sex teams that are crap.

    TL;DR: Studies show mixed-sex work-places perform better than all-men or all-women so your dislike is normal. Also some people just don't like working with women/men, which is also normal :P

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  • "I was asked the other day about working, I shuddered"

    - Tommy the cat, MD.

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  • SDDA

    Working with all women is a pain. I always feel left out, like an outsider. I remember Drama class being the worst place ever. There were two groups; this one annoying girl, her boyfriend and my ex, and then those gossiping girls who always had inside jokes. Though they talked to me, I never felt like they were friendly enough. And this one girl, who was dating this guy I've liked since grade 9, seemed to always indirectly make fun of me, whether behind my back or out in the open, calling me over in front of her whole group of friends. Ugh. At least her boyfriend didn't really get into it.

    But that's the thing, that's why I'd rather chill with a man. On the other hand, men definitely have their things to talk about. I don't like talking about what other women are wearing or shopping or anything, but I don't like talking about video games I never played before. It all depends on what you feel like talking about. I'd have to say though (if the man or woman is a fairly close friend) talking about emotions and problems is a gender-neutral thing, and you get different advice out of each gender.

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  • NeuroNeptunian

    The only area in which I worked with all women is the Special Education department. There was your average amount of shit talking typical of any group, but considering that the women that I worked with were educated (Bachelor's degrees) and open minded (you kind of have to be in special ed), I did not have that problem and I (possibly wrongfully) attribute it to those characteristics. Shit-talking usually indicates a level of unhappiness with one's life and those women were doing something they truly believed in, so to be a blatant shit-talker in that class would have rubbed them the wrong way.

    However, I know exactly what you are talking about. The way many groups of women socialize requires one to run at a certain frequency that, for people like me who are about as male brained as a female can get before it gets weird or blatantly "butchy", can be very tiring. They are very social and they analyze others very highly and I would imagine that if you get enough women of a certain personality type together (i.e. the kind of personality type necessary for someone to work in a fucking horrible job like retail for so long), shit gets real.

    Usually, I work with just males, but the group is always interesting when there is a mix of different gender and personality types. I have worked in places with all males in which we all had great chemistry and some places where it just like... sucked. But I digress. I am not exactly misogynistic but getting a bunch of women together (especially ones that are uneducated, single Moms that hate men because they fucked the cholo and surprise, he didn't stick around and women that have given up on their dreams and resigned to a life as a cashier) is basically like asking for hell.

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  • howaminotmyself

    Working retail sucks regardless of the gender distribution.

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  • Shackleford96

    It definitely has its drawbacks. It has its perks too though.

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  • CompletelyOverThought

    after going to a single gender school for so long I was more than excited to work with guys and girls. You need that balance.

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  • KeddersPrincess

    Yeah; I wouldn't be able to do that, myself. Women don't tend to get along with other women too well, and we all know how that ends. I'd actually rather work with all men then all women, and fortunatly, my job at retail have both sexes. And although we do have more women, we all get along great.

    I'd say, most people would probably feel the same way, especially if you are a girl, yourslef, being that, like I said before, women have a hard time getting along with other women, and most of us prefer having an amount of testosterone in the room to keep things from getting so tense. But I would try to avoid the gossipy ones and stay out of the mess the best I could.

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  • yeah

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