First and foremost, there isn't some broad brush we can paint either women OR men with when it comes to culture-making. There is a particular reason why we are seeing such a trainwreck happening in tech right now and I won't go too deep into it, but as a woman who has spent most of her adult career in tech, there is an acute hostility towards women from a vocal minority. Much of it rests on stereotypes, but my experience is that many of the "bros" that are surfacing also feel a special sense of entitlement that I had never encountered before I started working in the field.
Like an ultimate, real-life 'Revenge of the Nerds', there seemed to be a specific group of guys finally getting invited to the cool parties and there was no damned way that they were going to share this spotlight with the girls and minorities, who are certain to steal their thunder.* This, combined with a 'strength in numbers' that most likely comes from hiring practices that encourage looking for a narrow type of person, validates, encourages, and spreads the bad behaviour.
Diversity, if nothing else, makes the participants think more critically about their point of view.
But back to the scenarios:
But back to the original question...what would "sis-culture" look like?
Scenario #1: Paradise Island
In the ultimate scenario, a sis-culture would probably look like the utopic world of Themyscira. In DC's fictional depiction of Wonder Woman's sheltered home island, the Amazons were given a respite from the terrible world of man by the Olympian Gods where they could thrive and become as powerful and good as women were meant to be.
Of course, we don't live in a DC comic and this isn't a reality, so as much as this idea sounds appealing (especially after the recent hit with Gal Gadot, Robin Wright and Connie Nielsen), it's not a likely scenario.
Scenario #2: Manis/Pedis and All of the Feels
On the other end of the stereotype spectrum, sis-culture would look like a big, giant slumber party, filled with pep talks and manis/pedis. Every office would have a crying room, a breast-feeding pod, gender-neutral subsidized on-site daycare, girly shwag, abundant choice of tampon brands in the bathrooms, lunchtime yoga, a cafeteria that catered to every single dietary need, and regular town halls to air our issues.
Since women are - according to so many stereotypes - less aggressive and more emotional than men, we'd stop worrying so much about winning and start focusing on finding our inner strength. Who needs endless economic growth when you have found bountiful joy?
Scenario #3: Cat Fight City
How about this one, which I'm sure you've heard uttered by a few opponents on the far right: With our new found access to power and validation, women would clamour to keep it by fighting to keep everyone else out - lest we have it taken away again. Knowing that women are the worst when it comes to the treatment of other women, workplaces would be filled with only non-threatening types who pet the egos of the divas who run them.
Hurts the bottom line, that is. Women taking over would most definitely mean that quality would go WAY down because of all of the affirmative action that would be implemented. Because, you know, meritocracy means that you only pick the best man...er...person for the job.
Scenario #5: Girls Gone Wild
Seeing that we've been pent up for all of these years, another probably scenario is that sis-culture looks and feels like a GNO - time to let it all fly! Why should bad behaviour be only accessible to the guys? You go, girls!
The Reality
Of course, the above scenarios are all just hyperbole, exploiting the stereotypes that fly around about women and our traits - whether they are too one-dimensionally positive or too one-dimensionally negative. The truth is, women, like men are multi-faceted, multi-storied human beings.
The closest thing I've seen to sis-culture is working in Public Relations, where the ratio of women to men is completely flipped. And yes, there ARE elements of many of the above comical scenarios (I've met my share of Katherine Parkers and Regina George's), but nothing I would point to as being culturally segregated. Perhaps the exposure to other industries (you aren't isolated in a bubble in PR) helps quell extreme behaviour?
In my little company, we do things differently, for sure. I'm tough on my team - promoting the idea of Flawlessness and Fearlessness as our core values - but I'm also really adamant about promoting a culture of openness, honesty and teamwork. And as I joked to Andreas, we do partake in the occasional mani/pedi outing to reward a job well done.
I don't know if this is sis-culture, but we are also hyper aware that the number of women in the office could be potentially overwhelming to our sole male team member, Christian, and make sure that we create an inclusive environment. I also know that we have a long way to go when it comes to adding more diversity when it comes to my team. I am always concerned about creating a culture of seclusion.
Andreas' question was an innocent one (and he, himself, acknowledged that it probably wasn't the right question anyway), but it can only be asked in a world where there IS a bro-culture that has emerged. It's not normal and it wouldn't be normal to have a sis-culture.
There is a reason why more and more companies are creating executive roles to address diversity. I hope that they do such a great job that their roles no longer have to exist for future generations.
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* I know that this is a stereotype in itself, but I'm not saying it is "all of the guys in tech" - just a vocal minority who, much like the vocal minority that elected the current US President, encourage and spread bad behaviour from a larger group.
