The sad truth is that these women are insecure.
Since you so well brought out the fact that women have been very much dominated by men in some workplaces in the past, I believe it is easy to see that the history of male dominance in certain workplaces has a lot to do with the queen bee problem. Once a queen bee experiences the positive aspects of being a female person, who is recognized as doing a job well, simply as a person, especially in a male dominated workplace, she wants no chance of having her positive affirmation lessened, diluted or possibly threatened by the presence of another competent woman.
The queen bee’s competence as a person, not specifically as a female, has been rewarded by the men in her workplace. At that point, gender is not an issue. But, deep down, the queen bee feels that if another capable woman gets the same kudos in her workplace, there may be only so much reward to go around for females. And therefore, in her mind, her self-worth is lessened or threatened, and perhaps there is a chance that the new woman will replace her, since she has been the only woman recognized for doing well in that environment to that point. Since she is not used to being appreciated for her non-domestic abilities, she loves being on a pedestal as a competent person, who just so happens also to be female. And, since she is the only woman at the scene, she feels superior and wants to be able to keep feeling that way because it feeds her sense of self-worth. She now has a sense of positive self-worth that she needs and doesn’t want to risk losing it.
Women who believe in helping other women “up the ladder” are not insecure people.
