"Isn't that just the way of it? If a man were to break the story, it would be scandal--news worthy, career ruining." Philomena scoffed. "But because you're a woman it's considered gossip. It's dismissive, is what it is and it isn't fair. You--you're doing so well though because you just have this way of using what people say about you and using their attitudes to your benefit, you really have turned things around."
Philomena wanted to slap the girls who let their family members or the men in their lives control them without fighting back and then complaining about it. Complaining did nothing to help the problem, and it drove Selwyn nuts. People asking her how to better themselves without the common sense to think about their own actions.