Inside Out

There’s a particular kind of silence that hangs in some rooms. Not the peaceful kind. The kind laced with tension, with unspoken questions and polite glances that never quite turn into real eye contact. It’s the silence between two women, one seasoned, accomplished, guarded. The other hungry, hopeful, and just beginning to rise. And while no one says it out loud, the message often travels clearly: Don’t expect too much. I made it without help. You should too. This is not a rant. This is a reckoning. Because the truth is, we cannot talk about empowerment, sisterhood, or women supporting women without acknowledging the fracture lines running through the middle. This is about what happens when women, especially powerful women, don’t support other women. And most painfully, when they don’t support the younger ones coming up behind them. What We Don’t Want to Admit There’s a form of hostility that’s so elegant, so professional, you’d almost miss it. It’s in the mentor who...