“蜂王综合征”

By Joshua Ogden-Davis /肝脑涂地

当我们可怜的女同胞们在职场中诸事不顺、总是得不到晋升的机会时，除了和身边的人抱怨吐槽外，有没有想过这其实和我们的女上司有一定的联系呢？有研究表明，很多位高权重的女性都不太愿意看到女下属升职。这种现象叫作“蜂王综合征”。患有“蜂王综合征”的女性通过阻止同性下属升迁这样的职场文化恶习来使自己更好地融入同一级别的男同事当中。“蜂王综合征”可能是女员工在女领导手下工作压力更大的原因，而男员工的压力水平则未见因领导性别不同而有变化。

Carlita： Thats it. Im out of here. Im filing my two-weeksnotice this afternoon.

Teddy： Whoa， Carlita， whats going on？

Carlita： Well， Teddy， I just had my performance evaluation. Remember how it went last time？

Teddy： Oh， yeah， something about Suzette not telling the truth about you？

Carlita： She told 1）outright lies. She said I didnt work any overtime， while I pulled a whole week of late nights to finish the quarterly report！

Teddy： Uh， oh. And this time？

Carlita： She said that my work was “unsatisfactory” and “not up to the company standards，” even though all of my clients have been completely satisfied！

Teddy： But， I dont understand. Why would your supervisor lie about you like that？

Carlita： ①Beats me， but Im sick of it. Theres a management-level position opening up in Accounting soon， but with two bad reviews on my record， I certainly wont be anybodys first choice.

Teddy： Oh， I see. Now that you mention the management position， I think I understand what this is all about.

Carlita： What， you think Suzette is giving me bad reviews to keep me from moving up？

Teddy： I think that could be part of it.

Carlita： But that doesnt make any sense. Women have been trying to break the glass ceiling for centuries. Shouldnt Suzette be excited to see another woman bound for management？

Teddy： ②You would think so， but the opposite might be true. I read an article last month about “Queen Bee 2）Syndrome.”

Carlita： That sounds kind of 3）creepy.

Teddy： I thought so， too. Basically， it means that women in management can feel pressure to keep other women down. Carlita： That sounds so backwards to me.

Teddy： Well， think about it. Men usually dominate the c-suite， so whenever a woman breaks in， she really feels pressure to prove herself.

Carlita： I see. She has to “be one of the boys.”

Teddy： Exactly. ③And to do that， she cant go soft on the women in the company， or the men will think its 4）favoritism. Carlita： Thats incredibly depressing， though I guess it makes sense， in a way. But Suzette was doing more than just not going easy on me； she was 5）downright 6）mean！

Teddy： Thats another part of it. ④There can only be one queen in the hive， right？

Carlita： You mean， women in power can sometimes feel the need to keep other women out？

Teddy： Some researchers think so.

Carlita： This is all so unfair. How can you be so calm about it？

Teddy： Well， research shows that men dont feel any more stress when working for women. So while I know Suzette is being unfair， it hasnt really affected me in any way.

Carlita： Im sorry to hear you say that. 7）Sexism is everybodys problem， you know.

Teddy： I know. Sorry for playing the innocent 8）bystander. Is there anything I can do to help？

Carlita： How about helping me move my stuff？ I need to find a job with a thinner glass ceiling and fewer queen bees！

卡丽塔：就这样吧。我要离开这里了。我今天下午就写辞职信。

特迪：哇，卡丽塔，怎么回事？

卡丽塔：好吧，特迪，我的工作刚被评估过，还记得上次的情况吗？

特迪：嗯，对，就是苏泽特没有说出你的实情对吧？

卡丽塔：她简直在说谎。她说我没有加班，但是我却开了整整一个星期的夜车去完成那份季度报告！

特迪：呃，噢。那这次呢？

卡丽塔：尽管所有的客户对我的表现都十分满意，她还是说我的工作不尽人意，没有达到公司的标准。

特迪：但是我不明白，为什么你的上司要那样诋毁你呢？

卡丽塔：这难倒我了，但是我受够了。财务部很快就会有一个管理层的空职，但是有两个差评在案，我肯定不会成为首选。

特迪：噢，我懂了。你一提到管理层的职位，我想我明白这里的事了。

卡丽塔：什么，你觉得苏泽特给我差评是因为不想让我升职？

特迪：我想这是部分原因。

卡丽塔：但是这说不通啊。女性数百年来都在努力冲破“玻璃屋顶”（译者注：“玻璃屋顶”指的是女性在职场遇到的发展瓶颈，到了一定职位就很难再上升。）的遭遇。看到别的女性晋升到管理层，苏泽特不该感到兴奋吗？

特迪：你可能会这样想，但是事实刚好相反。我上个月看了一篇有关“蜂王综合征”的文章。

卡丽塔：这名词听起来很怪。

特迪：我也这样想。它的基本意思是在管理层的女性对女下级感到有压力。

卡丽塔：这跟我想的不一样。

特迪：嗯，好好想想。男性通常占据着高层的要职，所以无论何时有一个女性进入管理层，她都会为证明自己的实力而倍感压力。

卡丽塔：我懂了。她也必须成为男性管理层的一份子。

特迪：正确。为了这样做，她不可能对公司的其他女性宽容，否则其他男性会说她偏袒女性。

卡丽塔：这真的让人感到很沮丧，尽管我觉得在某种程度上这是可以理解的。但是苏泽特不仅仅跟我难相处，她真的很坏！

特迪：这就是另一方面了。一山不能容二虎，对吧？

卡丽塔：你的意思是，位居要职的女性有时会觉得有赶走其他女性的必要？

特迪：一些调查者是这样认为的。

卡丽塔：这真的很不公平。你怎么能保持如此冷静？

特迪：好吧，研究表明男下属不会对女上司感到有压力。所以虽然我知道苏泽特处事不公，但这真的不会影响到我。卡丽塔：听到你这么说我感到很遗憾。性别歧视是每个人的问题，你知道的。特迪：我知道。对做个冷眼的旁观者我感到抱歉。我能帮你做什么吗？

卡丽塔：你能帮我搬东西吗？我需要找一份少一些“玻璃屋顶”和“蜂王”的工作！

Smart Sentences

① Beats me， but Im sick of it. 这难倒我了，但是我受够了。

beat sb.： perplex or baffle sb.（难倒某人，使某人不解）。例如：I have no idea why dad said that. It beats me.

我不知道老爸为啥那么说，我搞不懂。

② You would think so， but the opposite might be true. 你可能会这样想，但是事实刚好相反。

You would think so： used to introduce a third party disagreement with someone on a particular issue（用以引入第三方在某个问题上与其他人的不同看法）。例如：

—I thought everyone believed in the importance of being punctual.

我以为人人都明白守时的重要性。

—I would think so， but obviously Kate and Ted think differently.

我也这么认为，可很明显，凯特与泰德不这么觉得。

③ And to do that， she cant go soft on the women in the company， or the men will think its favoritism. 为了这样做，她不可能对公司的其他女性宽容，否则其他男性会说她偏袒女性。

soft on sb.： lenient with sb.（对某人宽厚，心肠软）。例如：

Youre always soft on sis. Thats not fair.你对姐姐总是太宽厚，那不公平。

④ There can only be one queen in the hive， right？ 一山不能容二虎。对吧？

There can only be one queen in the hive： more than one center figure wont be allowed with a particular group（在某个团体内不允许出现多于一个的核心角色，一山不容二虎）。例如：

There can only be one queen in the hive. So you need to be careful not to outshine Mrs. Blackstone.

一山不容二虎，所以你要小心，不要盖过布莱克斯通夫人的风头。