Men feel their masculinity is threatened when they are told they are less assertive, dominant, or 'masculine' than others. They may also experience these reactions when they find themselves to be subordinate to a woman who clearly takes the lead or when they are expected to perform tasks considered 'unmanly.'
For decades, work was designed around a fiction, that of the 'neutral' worker, an abstract individual assumed to be fully available, consistent, rational, and unaffected by bodily constraints. But this neutrality was never real.
If you've spent enough time in workplaces, on boards, or in other community organizations, you've probably had that moment where your stomach tightens in a meeting and you're not entirely sure why. A comment lands sideways. A tone shifts. Someone interrupts you for the third time. You walk away replaying the exchange, wondering whether you imagined it or whether something subtle but unmistakable just happened. That confusion is often the first sign you're dealing with a workplace bully.
We tend to think of support at work as always helpful. Advice. Guidance. A quick assist when things get tough. But research shows some kinds of support quietly do more harm than good. Certain forms of workplace support don't restore energy or build trust-they drain it. And over time, they can erode engagement and fuel burnout. Five kinds of unhelpful workplace social support: Imposing support shows up as unsolicited guidance. Advice you didn't ask for. Direction you weren't ready to receive.
