Academic Mean Girls

There’s been a lot of … stuff going on at my university lately (just Google “Australian National University” on the news setting and you’ll see what I mean). People are, to put it mildly, upset. So upset that they’ve taken to writing articles for and against said management in our local city newspaper, The Canberra Times:

A couple of weeks ago, a high profile male professor, John Blaxland, wrote an article in support of management titled “Canberra would be wrong to oust ANU Vice Chancellor Genevieve Bell”. In it, he mansplained feminism and chalked up the staff discontent to the Vice Chancellor being the first woman in the office.

(By the way John, if you happen to read this, I am happy to explain feminism to you sometime over a coffee on campus mate – my shout.)

The VC took up this line of defence in an interview with the National Broadcaster, the ABC, claiming sexism and misogyny are alive and well in Australia. On that Professor Genevieve Bell and I agree. There are elements of sexism. Certainly she is copping it with the unflattering pictures that seem to go with every news article. And I have no doubt she is dealing with more personal threats than a man ever would, which is total bullshit.

However.

There are questions, mostly about money, that need to be answered. The VC, regardless of gender, is the one paid to be in charge of answering them. This week, a group of anonymous ANU gender studies experts fired back at John Blaxland (and, I suppose, the VC too) with an article called “Critiquing a woman’s leadership is not sexism. This is about power”. The authors withheld their names – understandably in my view. It’s not a time to stick your head above the parapet (it’s likely to get blown off).

When the second article came out, my phone promptly blew up, asking if I was in some way responsible or involved in writing this article. Canberra is a small town and the rumour mill went into overdrive. It soon became clear that some (many?) of my colleagues and the PhD students of ANU were convinced the writer was me.

So, for the record:

I did not write the article. Nor did I consult on it with the authors.

I read the article in the paper, with my morning coffee, like everyone else who works at ANU. Like many of you, I did a low whistle and said ‘shots fired!’. I may have sent it via text with a popcorn emoji to a few friends. That’s the extent of my involvement. Sorry if this makes some of you respect me less.

The opinion piece was very well argued. I am flattered that you think I have that kind of grasp on feminist theory. When it comes to gender studies, I am an interested amateur, at best. And by the way, if I was to make any kind of public statement about the current situation, I would put my name on it. (Frankly, I’m a bit of an attention junkie and I would not be able to resist.)

But, as I said, right now, sticking your head above the parapet? Not a good idea. I am not going to make a public comment on this specific hot mess, who I think is to blame and what should be done about it. That’s way above my paygrade.

But I do want to say something about whether women should, or should not, criticise other women – because I have a LOT of feelings and opinions. Feelpinions, if you like.

In fact, I’ve had this ‘Academic Mean Girls’ post in draft at the back end of the blog for more than 2 years now. The rumour mill has made me dig it out and dust it off. My colleague Catherine Frieman encouraged me to write it after I had a rant over lunch one day. This was long, long before we had a female VC. I was incensed, at the time, about some woman on woman violence I had witnessed at work. Catherine enjoyed my rant, said I should write it down and suggested the title.

I went home and started to write it, but then put it aside… for years.

I’ve been, frankly, a bit too scared to finish and publish this article. But the state of the world, and my little corner of it, demands honesty right now. If we can’t face up to our flaws, we have no hope of ever fixing them. So here is my not so hot take:

When they want to be, women are really, really great at being horrible. Academic women are no exception.

When it comes to workplace violence, which is all about being passive-aggressive, I would argue most women are far better at fucking with you than a man will ever be. In my experience, you can see a man coming at you a mile away, whereas you don’t even realise a woman has knifed you in the back until you feel a tingling sensation between your shoulder blades. There’s a simple reason for this: we women get a lot of practice of receiving and inflicting wounds that do not leave marks.

Culturally, in Australia at least, girls are discouraged from hitting at a young age. Our violence is perpetuated in speech, or lack of it. In selective othering. In reputation trashing. So, here’s a short list of types of Academic Mean Girls, which I’ve been working on for years. Offered with due respect to “Mean Girls”, and the original book the movie was based on: “Queen Bees and Wannabes”.

The Queen Bee

She has fought hard to reach her position in a male-dominated environment and isn’t about to make it easier for other women to follow. She’s internalised the message that there’s limited room for women at the top, so rather than challenging that premise, she guards her territory fiercely.

Look for: A senior academic who always seems to find fault with other women. Someone who distances herself from gender equity initiatives (“I never needed special treatment”), and who takes pride in being “not like the others”. Her elbows are sharp: watch it.

The Conference Clique Co-ordinator

Academia can feel like high school when conference season rolls around, and the Clique Coordinator excels at creating exclusive groups. She’s masterful at organising the “unofficial” parts of academic events – the dinners where real networking happens, the post-panel drinks where collaborations form.

Look for: The colleague who casually mentions “a few of us are grabbing dinner” without extending an invitation; who schedules “spontaneous” gatherings that somehow always include the same people. You never wanted to go to the stupid party anyway, but it still hurts.

The Strategic Underminer

Perhaps the most skilled of academic mean girls, the Strategic Underminer has refined the art of the backhanded compliment and knows exactly how to plant seeds of doubt about your competence.

Look for: Comments like “Your work is so accessible!” (translation: it’s simplistic), “You’re so… pragmatic” (translation: you’re not doing REAL research), or “That’s such an interesting approach” (translation: it’s wrong). It took me ages to realise that being ‘practical’ isn’t always a compliment (But I’ve decided to take it as such, even when it is not being offered in that spirit – fuck it).

The Workload Weaponiser

In environments where service work is distributed unevenly, the Workload Weaponiser has mastered the art of making sure other women continue to bear the majority of the load, all the while complaining about unfairness.

Look for: The colleague who says the men are “just not capable enough” to take on the administrative tasks that “you are so great at!” (thus ensuring men never learn how to be better). She’s the one who voluntells you for committees “for experience”, and will not hesitate to use their own massive workload to make you feel guilty if you say no.

The Toxic Apologist

The Toxic Apologist specializes in rationalizing and excusing destructive behaviour from other women. She transforms legitimate complaints about someone’s actions into opportunities for you to show more “understanding” and “compassion” toward the very person who’s treating you poorly.

Look for: Someone who responds to your concerns with “But you have to understand, she’s under so much pressure” or “She’s had such a difficult career path” or “That’s just her communication style.” She’ll make you feel small and petty for having boundaries, all while positioning herself as more emotionally mature and empathetic.

The Anxious Administrator

She has climbed the academic ladder into management but carries her impostor syndrome with her like a heavy briefcase. Unable to trust her own judgment, she compensates by controlling everything and everyone around her—with a special intensity reserved for other women.

Look for: A newly promoted woman who suddenly requires you to copy her on every email, questions decisions you’ve been making independently for years, and demands excessive documentation for routine tasks. While she micromanages everyone to some degree, there’s a noticeable difference in how she scrutinizes women, particularly those she perceives as competent (in case you are wondering: competent people are a threat).

The Public Angel

She has mastered the art of social camouflage, cultivating an impeccable public image while reserving her true behaviour for private interactions. She’s the academic Jekyll and Hyde – charming in meetings, vicious in one-on-ones.

Look for: A colleague who is effusively supportive in public forums but undermines you in private conversations. She will send back a piece of work seven times for no reason, but is all smiles in the corridor. The worst thing is she has somehow convinced everyone else she’s the department’s nurturing heart, while simultaneously being your personal tormentor.

Ouch.

I don’t know about you, but I found that list a bit triggering, especially the last one.

I have personally met every single one of these women – sometimes in the same body. And yes – men can also manifest some or all of these behaviours too. But there are gendered patterns of violence. I don’t know if I have it exactly right, and I certainly haven’t researched it, but I reckon my list will resonate.

I don’t have any solutions to offer other than: please stop it. I’m begging you.

It’s at this point I’d like to personally single out my current manager, Professor Ann Evans for being simply awesome. After so many painful experiences of women having power over me, and sometimes making it hurt, I was distrustful at first. But Ann has showed me over and over that she is a person of integrity who genuinely cares. In all the terrible-ness of the current moment – and it is terrible – I appreciate her so much.

Glad I got that off my chest. And if the ANU rumour mill is churning about this post next week, well… at least I’ll know people are still reading my (old fashioned?) blog.

Popcorn emoji, anyone?

In solidarity,

Inger

PS – Claude helped me a little with this post, mostly just in suggesting some of the names for my Mean Girls and for copy editing. The semi-colons are all mine.

Related Posts here:

Academic Arrogance

Academic Assholes and the circle of Niceness