Freespace - The poison they spew

PACKING up my sweaty yoga mat in a studio one day, I overheard a few women talking about a girl who had joined the class. This girl was prettier, slimmer and perhaps more accomplished on the mat than these women. So inevitably, in their eyes, she was a wanton show-off harlot, hell-bent on seducing the male teacher.
I was amused. And I am going to tread on thin ice as I ask why do women do this to each other? On the one hand, we have women saying that they have been repressed for centuries by men and, on the other, they lash out poisonously at other women at the drop of a penny.
Let's take for example a man I knew who got divorced. All the women within our circle blamed the "other" woman and dumped all culpability and responsibility on her lap, leaving the man blameless. It was almost like he was innocently walking down the street and the woman threw herself on top of him and made him, at gunpoint, to have an affair with her. Sneaky conniving trollop, they cried.
Many years later, the women ruefully admitted that they had overlooked the fact that the guy had a big role in the affair (no kidding!). Of course, they had forgotten the witch-hunt they had instigated on the phones for months.
All right, generalising is never a good activity. There are many sweet women who say nary a caustic word about another person, man or woman. And there are many men who are poisonous creatures. But you know what I mean, don't you?
Well, if you don't know what I mean, do a Google search. I, a mere man, am not alone in my thoughts. Juliette Frette on Huffington Post asks why women's "worth as individuals inspires insecure animosity".
Frette finds that women are expected to excel at everything and yet remain looking fabulous to be seen as a success. She points out that no one hardly mentions the appearance of George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Mitt Romney or Barack Obama (aside from his ears), yet there are columns dedicated to what Hilary Clinton, Sarah Palin or Michelle Obama wear.
Oh, how true! Huge amounts were written on this when Bruce Jenner transformed into Caitlyn Jenner a few months ago. Once a celebrated athlete, decathlon Olympian in the 1970s, Jenner was celebrated in American media as looking hot and fabulous when Caitlyn was revealed.
To make my point further that this gender discrimination is so prevalent, we have articles listing the best looking First Ladies. Why can't we have one listing the hottest and handsomest First Men? Ridiculous? If we can rank the women, why not the men?
Frette's theory is that women's envy of each other is derived from age-old tradition of women being "trophies". I agree to some degree, because I am still left wondering somewhat.
What about situations when mothers-in-law know that their daughters-in-law are being abused by their sons and quietly encourage it? What about situations when mothers teach their daughters to clean house while their sons languish on their beds not lifting a finger because to do housework is a "woman's job" (my household had two sons, so we had no such luxury).
When I hear how cruel women can be to their own sisters, I shake my head. Isn't it time we showed a little compassion to each other? After all, haven't we been harshly judged before? Don't we know how it feels? Or do we want to perpetuate the vicious cycle forevermore?
Daniel freelances in writing and fitness training, and has a deep passion for health, fitness, sleep and travel. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com