Why do women diss each other?

I found this story to be quite upsetting, although all too familiar. Barbara Boxer apparently dissed Secretary of State Coldoleeza Rice because she is childless.

“JERUSALEM (AP) — Condoleezza Rice let out a heavy sigh when asked Saturday whether as a single woman with no children she had difficulty appreciating the ramifications of war. It’s a topic that has inflamed the Internet and talk radio in the U.S. since a Democratic senator challenged the secretary of state’s personal stake in the Iraq war.
‘No,’ Rice answered when asked if her status hinders her understanding of the sacrifices involved. ‘I also think that being a single woman does not in any way make me incapable of understanding not just those sacrifices but also that nothing of value is ever won without sacrifice.’
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., told Rice during a testy Senate hearing on Thursday that without an immediate family Rice will pay no personal price for the Bush administration policy in Iraq.
Rice has said she was at first perplexed by the exchange, and later told Fox News, ‘Gee, I thought single women had come further than that.’
Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh accused Boxer of hitting ‘below the ovaries”

I bring it up because it was an attempt to discredit secretary Rice in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with her qualifications or her humanity.

Unfortunately it happens all the time. Women are just cruel and bitchy to each other with regularity. Last week I was discussing the doctrine of hell with a gal who has a long history of disagreeing with me. That’s fine, but our disagreements often and always turn away from the topic we are discussing to my religion, my weight, the way I care for my children, my finances, and my intelligence.

It’s in the media too. In the Rosie/Donald imbroglio, the ad hominems and personal remarks are flying so fast and furious I wonder if they even remember what the original disagreement was about?

Getting back to Barbara Boxer’s comments, it’s indredible that she would imply that because secretary Rice does not have any children that she doesn’t care about the country, or the country’s future. I think even if you disagree with your politics you have to admit that there are much easier and more lucrative ways for someone with Ms. Rices’ background to make a living than her current position if she really didn’t care at all about the future of the country.