Although this is a behaviour that I was ‘warned’ about in my feminist classes, I have never actually been called ‘hysterical’ for showing ‘dominant-masculine’ behaviour. So long as I feel inclined, I have no issue whatsoever in voicing my opinions on political issues or assuming a leading role in the workplace. Most people (men and women) don’t care though. They value my opinions and insight on social issues and they appreciate my ability to run things smoothly in my little dead-end jobs. I’ll occasionally come across people who feel threatened, but there is a equal distribution of men and women in this crowd. Some people just don’t respond well if you are a hell a lot smarter than they are or can understand and run things better at work. But this isn’t an observation about men only and I’m not 100% convinced that it has anything to do with gender roles. I think it is just a question of insecurity.
This is why I prefer to approach feminism from a economic and political perspective more so than a social perspective. Often, I just don’t see a lot of the social behaviour that is described to me in feminist courses (though that isn’t an absolute statement - people tell me that I should look more feminine quite a bit). But then, I live in a city so my perspective may be skewed.
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A woman who tries to show dominance in masculine ways appears to be "hysterical". Part of the reason for the "hysteria" is because it's like someone who is 4 foot tall trying to order around a 6 foot man. Our minds still process things visually and tonality very strongly. The metalanguage is confusing. Why we don't have many female leaders is because traditional roles have told us that men are leaders. They are "stronger" mentally and physically. They are more suited and designed to earn status and order people around.
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I’m only 4 10 and I order much taller men around quite frequently. More importantly, they don’t care. So long as people think that they can benefit and learn from your expertise and skills, I don’t think many people are going to care if you are female (or very short and small). It could be that these men speak very bitterly about me behind my back, but I don’t think so. I’ve never picked up on any ‘negative’ vibes or body language from them.
Seriously, the only time when I had issues with men feeling inferior to women was when I was very, very young (around 7 may be). Back then, some of the boys were angry that a girl could beat them at sports. But then they grew up.