Not quite so hard for them
"A woman who wants to succeed as a manager/professional in the US working world economy simply has to take on the exact opposite characteristics that make for an appealing female dating/love/sex partner. Sweet, happy, compliant, sensual, uncomplicated.
My work project manager seems to be a decent lady at heart, and is not fat or intrinsically ugly, and I get along fine with her professionally. But when she smiles the hardness built up from years trying to climb the corporate ladder shows in her face. She just has to be a bit of a battle-axe to be as successful as she is in her career in a pretty cutthroat environment."
All I can say is I work as a civil servant and it's so much a cut-throat environment for women as it is a system that requires a certain quota of women to be in higher level positions. A woman in today's government has a fairly easy ticket from what I've seen.
Women in the workplace are by far the most political and insecure people I've worked with, both in the private and public sectors. They also pride themselves on manipulation and keeping secrets.
Their one convenient downfall is that they're sometime unable to contain their emotions, so you get to witness public outbursts occasionally that lessen their credibility. But unfortunately, they're still women with a big affirmative action push behind them, so it's still hard for them to get in trouble.