To expand, since I can no longer edit: People here really should read up on what "relationship triangles" are. Most people a) can't recognize them when they oc

To expand, since I can no longer edit: People here really should read up on what "relationship triangles" are. Most people a) can't recognize them when they occur, and b) don't realize how toxic and dysfunctional this relationship dynamic is. This must not become the new norm in the workplace, as there will be, as with any type of dysfunction, large human costs. In an ideal world, people would assert themselves respectfully to the people causing undesired behavior (which OP admits she didn't do) and coworkers should empathically listen and adjust their behavior (which according to her also didn't happen). Both of those things should have happened; there are two reasons they didn't: 1) Most people are simply not mature enough to communicate like this. People don't get taught how to resolve conflict among each other and how to assert themselves respectfully. Most people don't know how to assert themselves, and instead blame, generalize ("you always do this"), and attack. And most people also can't empathically listen, and adapt their behavior, they might just refuse to change, or even feel slighted and seek "revenge". This is a complex problem, and the people treating it as a "women's issue" are presenting an almost pathetically oversimplified view. 2) Even if people dared assert themselves, they're afraid that the company would punish them for it. This also should be fixed, but it doesn't undermine the existence of the first point. The real problem is that the vast majority of people have pretty poor communication skills, and nobody is willing to address this, instead opting to play political partisan games. Schools and the culture at large should teach effective communication, assertion and problem-solving skills, if we want to make any progress.