Personally, I've always found it easier to talk to men and socialize with men. I do value having female friendships but I've found it hard to find secure, confident women who aren't constantly comparing themselves to me. You can't have a friendship that way. You're either okay with yourself and with me or you're not.

Yes relational aggression refers to when females engage in trying to ruin another's reputation, trying to turn other women against one, back-stabbing etc. I was surrounded by it in single-sex schools growing up. It has actually been suggested by > 1 psychologist that women are just as aggressive as men; they just employ a different form of aggression.

I'll never forget my first male friends. It was so fantastic. We could talk and be real. There was no game-playing or frequent comments comparing their body to mine etc etc. I naively used to think that girls grew out of relational aggression. They don't. The girls who did that in high school are the women doing it in their 40s.

At one point, I worked on a team which included two middle-aged women who acted like 7 year olds. No exaggeration. It was like watching two little girls gossiping, whispering, a little hive of negativity. They would even talk behind a hand over their mouth in the middle of a room about our other female colleague. She was much younger than them and became their target. Then I wound up in role of mediator with both sides coming to me. I managed to keep the peace but there were some days when it made me very angry because - why can't we just do our jobs respectfully?? Talk to a therapist if you're insecure. Stop playing games at work. Sigh.

I asked my significant other if he ever experienced male colleagues behaving like that either toward him or other males. He just laughed. That's a no