This day of “equal opportunities” and “gender empowerment”, etc, the woman goes to work because it has become necessity to have two incomes in order to survive in these days of spiraling prices and runway inflation. Women are joining the growing new breed of workaholics, a title once bagged by hard-driving ambitious men. Women may stats off enjoying their job initially and get on the treadmill towards success. Then they realize it is like riding a tiger and if they don’t get off the work treadmill of long hours, the personal and social cost may be higher than that of any man.

An obsessive worker may be loved by her boss, admired by her colleagues and inspire awe in subordinates. This is often achieved at a staggering personal cost when work becomes all – consuming. Very often psychologists have determined that a man’s sense of self-worth is more tied to his work while a woman places higher priority on relationships i.e. security and family. Some women may be masculine in way of thinking but end up paying a much higher price. Male workaholics fit easily into the familiar role of the breadwinner. Women workaholics, on the other hand, go against the accepted image of a devoted wife, loving mother, and a dutiful daughter and therefore to the detriment of her social status – the role of the “nari” or the women, that has been formatted by history and tradition – set on a pedestal with a steep drop!


Who are the demon workers among the female ranks? Not the stereotype battleaxes that have fought their way into the inner realms of up management, and have deep scars to prove it. The “witches of fast track” are likely to be the young educated young women who are eager to make their mark – the female yuppies paying for their newfound independence that their mothers could not achieve. Or the older woman in their 30s and 40s who find it difficult to shrug off old habits, and is secretly afraid of being side-tracked or even laid off must, at all costs, hang on their niche.


There is a fuzzy line between hardworking and being a workaholic. A hard worker will put her job in perspective and strive for a balance. A workaholic, may start off as a hard worker, and then, lose track! She doesn’t slow down even when there is a lull. Workaholics start from mild 10-hour workdays and reach to serious, 14-16 hours workdays! Achievement driven, they strive for exceptional results, thrive on challenge, and demand control and lose her friends and family in the process. I suppose it is difficult when the workplace is more exiting than the home!


Sings pointing to workaholics differ little between the sexes, but there are underlying reasons peculiar only to women that sets them apart. An Asian women brought up to be supportive, accept extra work readily (they feel guilty in saying “no” because of being thought unprofessional or uncooperative and thus demeaning her status in the eyes of her colleagues) normally do not refuse work so as not to appear weak. Lacking the overriding ego her male counterpart, some women tend to be insecure about their abilities and need to prove their worth by trying harder higher, fuelled by the morbid fear of being typecast as the “typical” female. A stigma most women must bear like a cross!


With family and personal lives in a state of perpetual limbo, some women may have to re-think the end result and whether it is worth it. Having to “do” a job is perhaps a better option for some women rather than achieve greatness, which would allocate “ambition” to only the men. A driven woman would draw the wrath of her male colleagues – especially if she achieves position that they cannot.


Women who have either backing or collateral may achieve some heights in business or industry. She will have to work doubly hard to prove that she is worth the backing. By this argument, most men never achieve their goals but that is okay. Failures are an every-day thing but a women’s failure in a man’s world will spell death to her very soul! “After all, a women…”, and the smirking will go on. To avoid such condescension, a woman burns herself out to prove that she is perfect or on the other hand, takes the easy way out – which is to fit into the “typical” role of being “someone” one works with. Never – the boss!


Even banks hesitate to give a woman a sizeable business loan without a male signature backing her – either a husband’s or a father’s – it is in the application form! What if neither is available? Kiss bank loans goodbye! It does not matter that the female applicant has years of business experience or has a degree from Harvard. No man – no money…no Business! Micro-credit –OK! So, what should a woman do? Always but always, try to prove that she may be better than her male co-worker even though the society does not think so. Her excellent educational background or her record as a dynamic entrepreneur is mostly disregarded when funding is required. She is often tied to her fate of being born the ward of her father, then her husband and then her son’s – even today – even in the 21st century. Who will toll the bell?


Women tend to be perfectionists far more than men. She not only drives herself hard but also her subordinates. With burgeoning job market for women, as a result of mushrooming companies and globalization, faster telecommunications and general economic growth within the century, women have shot into the executive positions without learning the ropes. Women, have tougher time, as they learn on the job and spend more problems of the trade. Wanting not to look naïve, the woman works doubly hard to keep up with the men and be taken seriously. Especially in the male dominated workforce of Bangladesh.