Men And Successful Women, From A Man's Perspective

“But, really, who cares what men think?” Maureen O’Connor wrote in her article: Are Men Actually Intimidated by Powerful Women?

:) We care!

That men are intimidated by powerful women may be just a hypothesis. The conclusions may be based on misrepresentation of facts. This is an old war of the sexes in which one sex tries to outsmart the other. Women prove themselves by occupying positions traditionally regarded as men’s. How some behave when they are there is the subject of this controversy.

Most men admire and are fascinated by a woman’s bright mind because it compliments theirs. Her mind adds certain qualities. For example, intuition, playfulness and sensitivity. The qualities of both minds complement one another, particularly if they are working towards a common goal. Even within a home environment, there are certain decisions made by women that men cannot make, and vise-versa. And certain decisions are made in consultation with each other. That means borrowing ideas.

That was an ideal situation before a gender issue could raise its head.

What may be regarded as “intimidated” may be when men are hesitant and undecided about what to do in response to how a woman has addressed them or is carrying herself.

This kind of response may be triggered by how a successful woman carries herself, and what she expects from the men she is leading. Some women can be very aggressive in their need to be felt as bosses. This kind of behavior may stem from, amongst others, fear of being disrespected. This fear may induce the woman to try to consolidate her position by acting in a way that may seem to induce fear in the men.

As a result, men may feel disrespected as men. Their egos may become bruised. Initially, there may be silence that may be mistaken for intimidated. Nice men may be undecided about how to react, and may buy time with the hope the woman would realize her mistakes and make amends. Not very nice ones may react quickly. That may be why we have many cases of women bosses being sexually harassed.