Why do young women hate older women so much?

[CurlewKate]

When I was a young woman in all the excitement of feminism and equal rights campaigning, I thought that by now most of the battles would be fought and won. That our daughters and granddaughters would carry on the fight, and society would be well on the way to equality. But in reality legislation has changed but attitudes are lagging far behind. Far too many men are still stuck in the age of dinosaurs and despise women as much as they ever did. And even worse, many young women seem to regard older women with the same hatred, contempt or indifference. There seems to be little sense of building on what has gone before-depressingly in some ways things have gone backwards. What can we do?

I'm in my 40s, somewhere between younger and older. A few things: I really like the generation of young people who come after my own. From what I can see, overall they seem less materialistic, place more importance on having a work life balance, friendship, family, they drink much less, and generally seem to have their heads screwed on much better than at least I did at their age.
I get on well with older women too - no hatred.
There are some things I disagree with in the feminism of the older generations. But that's just my personal perspective, and no reason for hatred.

That’s the only thing I’ve come across. That some younger women think that younger women know nothing and have outdated views, but in my experience it’s younger men as well as women who think this and they soon grow out of this, especially if they mix/work with older people.

Because "older" women know a man can't magically turn into a period-having female?

I don't hate older women but I am resentful of the job blockers who refuse to leave, do very little and boast of claiming a pension and a wage. But that's men and women who do that.

Yes I like older Gen Zers. They're principled and unashamedly themselves.

See if this resonates, op?

I experienced this a lot at my previous job. At the time I was in my early 40s and most of the team i worked with was in their late 20s and they always treated anyone over 40 with disdain. Or made under handed comments. We were called "the oldies" and they would always mention how they were born in the 80s/90s so we "obviously" wouldn't understand. It was horrible. But it seemed to only be at that company, which is a major worldwide organization. Currently where I work I'm the oldest of the group but the younger workers never make me feel like it. I only really notice when they start talking about parenting their young children, but it's not in a way to make me feel bad for being "older".

Resentful, or jealous?
Job blocker? Horrible.

Agreed, this is ageist rubbish. I might not have liked some of my previous older colleagues but why shouldn’t they stay for their pension and why should they leave? Different if they don’t do much work.

I don't dislike older women, I do dislike militant-feminist-types though.

Agreed.

Why is that @moetmoet and who are they?

And even worse, many young women seem to regard older women with the same hatred, contempt or indifference.

Maybe in your circles OP but there is absolutely no evidence of it in mine.

75% of work place bullying experienced by woman is by other women. I would say the evidence suggests that women hate women more than men do.

Interestingly, what I'm seeing among people close to me in my mum and MIL's generation (they're in their 60s/70s) - what I mean is amongst them and their friends and family of the same age, I don't mean every woman of that age - is a clear shift to the right and voting against any pro-woman policies. There is very much a sense within the networks of people close to me of their generation of 'we survived in the dark ages of misogyny, so you will too!' and a concern for holding on to conservative financial policies that they think will benefit them, no matter who it throws under the bus in the process. The people I know in my generation (30s/40s) are generally voting very progressively.

@WhycantIkeepthisbloodyplantalive Could you tell us the source of this information please? I'm aware that women are much more likely to be the target of bullies at work but not the perpetrators.

I work with students and young people and I do see this, unfortunately. Lots of kneejerk dismissing of older women and older feminist writing as “problematic”. A lot of sucking up to older male lecturers whilst being quite rude about older female lecturers (eg older than about 35!) as Karens, terfs and “grannies”. Have noticed a real change in the last five years or so as well.

They usually have ghastly coloured hair (green, pink, blue) and for some reason always vegan. Some borderline, but the majority hate men.

Insufferable, miserable and are completely misled. In my opinion anyway.

My sister and her Dh both work in a University and they say the same as you. Dsis says it’s depressing to watch.

Do young women actually hate older women? Define ‘younger’ and ‘older’ for starters. I’m 39 so am I young or old? Whatever group I might be in I don’t hate any other group of people, apart from the ‘ignorant moron’ group but they’re not easily identifiable and come from all age groups.

Agree! A really nasty post which validates OP !

@EbesneezerCold ..you are aware that women have to work until they are 67 !
What a horrible way to describe another woman ,as a Job Blocker…nasty.

Like all "why do x group of people hate y group of people" type statements, it's just a silly generalisation based on your single point of anecdata.

You may perhaps find that you are having a cultural clash where your views and the young women you are interacting with (whether this be IRL or on social media) do not align and you are classifying this as hate instead of a difference of opinion?

Yes it is really depressing. I’m fairly sure I’ve looked pretty fat and middle-aged for about ten years now, but I’ve only started seeing this change in the last five years or so. The student-age girls are especially dismissive of any feminist writing that isn’t a YouTube video as they say it’s all “old fashioned”.

One young woman recently lectured me about how old-style feminism is “exclusionary in focusing on women”, because it should be the proper job of feminism to “bring men to the table”. 😐

I couldn’t help think of my father’s family, who always served the men dinner first and strictly in descending order of seniority (any visiting woman guest got served last, well after the men!)

I suppose I'd say I've been a militant feminist all my life. Pretty militant on environmental issues and animal cruelty too.

If I was being generous I'd call my hair blondish, even when feeling very ungenerous I wouldn't refer to it as ghastly - just a bit grey perhaps. I eat meat and worked on dairy farms for many years. I've been married 35 years to the loveliest man.

I'm a happy soul. The only thing that makes me miserable is suffering and inequality. If I'm misled I don't know by whom, I mean I read very widely and have done so for 55 years so I have taken in a massive range of views and continue to do so. I often adjust my view based on evidence. Perhaps I am insufferable - you'd need to ask my family and friends - but nobody has ever said it to my face.

Takes all sorts. Please listen to the message - smash the patriarchy, not those who want fairness.