To think older women don't like other older women?

[malificent7]

In the workplace. I am 42...ime women my age or older can be nean as they cannot mother me/ see me as a( non-existant ) threat. The younger women seem to be lovely to me bar 1 or 2 ageist types.
Why do we give each other such a hard time?
Men get mollycoddled by women regardless of age.
It's tough being okder and jow depresding at age 42, i am deemed " older." ( this has been said to me directly....i feel young still.)

Never found this. I've worked in law for (eek) over 20 years. i've been bullied and sexually harassed by some of the men I've worked with. The women have either been supportive, good friends or fine as colleagues. I'm in my forties now, recently started a new job and the my closest co-workers to me in terms of seniority are women my age. They've been great and very welcoming. I hope I'm the same to colleagues.

Age and experience wise, I'm probably older. I'm still surprised that I have colleagues almost 20 years younger than me cos I still see myself as young. Maybe it's cos I wasthe youngest in my dept for over 10 years. I often wonder why people look to me for advice- then I remember.

I'm not a nurturer or the type to be molly coddled. I'm just competent.

What is this 'low social capital' nonsense? Is this to do with attractiveness to men, and if so why is that relevant in the workplace? And if not, what the hell does it mean?

You’re young OP.....put it this way, you probably have another 25 years of working ahead of you so you’re less than halfway through your career

I work in a team of men and women, all in our 40s and 50s. It's great, everyone is supportive, and really, by our age no one really gives a sh!t about work, we know it's all bollocks we have to do. And everyone is relaxed. Looking at all the endless gossip and office politics around, especially with younger members of the company, I'm so glad I'm older and that I work with people my age. I feel very lucky for it, actually.

Other women her age see her as a threat, because she's probably got considerable experience and qualifications at her age and therefore is in direct competition to them.

They probably don't see the 18 year old as a threat for a promotion, so can be kinder to her.

Do people genuinely think like this, or do they just spout it on MN?

This sort of thing says more about you, than the people you perceive as seeing ‘threats’ everywhere.

I worked with women of all ages. Most were lovely both within their own age group and intergenerationally. The ones that weren't lovely spanned the age range. The biggest bitch of all was 30, super ambitious and made it very clear that she couldn't wait for the older women to leave/retire as they were taking up the jobs she wanted to progress into.

Agree with most.
If you have had a bad day, or bad year, or bad experience with this team or with one colleague, post about that. People might empathise or might offer some suggestions or advice.
But projecting from your experience over the last few weeks or months to To think older women don't like other older women? is just ludicrous and makes you sound ridiculous.

I am fortunate, like BettysSpaghetti right at the start, and many others have also said, I work in a Team where we are all women and I think all aged 40 to 65, and it really is the best, and most supportive Team you could ever wish for. An amazing group of intelligent, kind women doing a fab job in difficult circumstances.

The women at my work are amazing, all of them and they are all different ages 18 to 60

I am currently based in a small office of just four peopl, aged 26, 32, 36 and 59. We get on brilliantly- all bring different life experiences and interests. Literally nothing like you describe.
I have been previously in an office with three people my age (same year), two about 5 years older and one ten years younger. All us older ones got on ( and still do ten years later) brilliantly. However, the younger one had the rest of us treading on eggshells. But it was nothing to do with her age. Every group she has worked with before and since has found her awkward to be around.
So I think you are wrong, OP. It is about individuals, not age.

This is the opposite of my experience. In the workplace, as I aged, I became invisible to younger women and men of all ages, unless they knew me through working directly with me. Women my own age were the ones who didn’t walk past me in corridors as if I wasn’t there.

Wine OP? Whine, surely?

Having worked in a few offices over the years I haven’t noticed this. Where you do have point is the way SOME women treat men, make allowances for mistakes because they are male and call adult males (in their 20s) boys and allow slip ups that women wouldn’t get away with. I’ve always found it curious.

I get on well with all women in my workplace. Except the bitchy one. Bitches are bitches, doesn't matter what age you are.