Other publications didn’t hold back. Ms. Magazine put it succinctly: feminism didn’t ruin the workplace — it made it more humane. The Guardian was even more blunt, noting that questioning whether offices have become “too feminine” feels less like cultural critique and more like gaslighting the half of the workforce that wasn’t historically invited in the first place. The pattern is clear: whenever women and feminism enter the conversation, some folks instinctively ask, “Whose fault is this?” instead of, “How could we have done better?”

If we’re honest, the workplace has been quietly rigged for one type of worker for decades: always-on, always-available, unflinchingly competitive. That framework isn’t neutral — it’s built on patriarchal norms that assume men’s availability and behaviours are the default. Now that women — and the values often associated with feminist change — are reshaping the rules, some are recoiling as if the sky itself is falling. Collaboration, empathy, and relational intelligence aren’t weaknesses; they’re the glue holding teams together. Framing them as disruptive or “soft” says more about the entrenched system than it does about the people showing up.