Girlboss

Sophia Amoruso in 2014, the same year she popularised the term girlboss.

Girlboss, also known as girlboss-ism, is a neologism, popularised by Sophia Amoruso in her 2014 eponymous book, which denotes a woman "whose success is defined in opposition to the masculine business world in which she swims upstream".^[1] The concept's ethos has been described as "convenient incrementalism".^[1]

History[]

The term first became popular in 2014 after Sophia Amoruso used it with a hashtag prefix in her bestselling autobiography, that was adapted into a TV show of the same name.^[2] Its early usage was defined by perceived empowerment.^[2] Its popularity led to it becoming a "a template for marketing and writing about powerful women in virtually every industry".^[3]

By 2019, the concept had begun to derive disdain from some women and viewed as ironic; others still believed in its worth.^[4]

In early 2020, the self-regulatory organisation Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned a billboard, advertising PeoplePerHour, which read: "You do the girl boss thing we'll do the SEO thing".^[2] Later in 2020, the George Floyd protests saw a number of high-profile women executives resign after accusations of creating toxic and racist workplaces.^[5] According to Amanda Mull of The Atlantic, this time saw the "end of the girlboss" manifest in a "cultural pushback".^[3] Judy Berman of Time stated that the rise of anti-capitalism among youth had turned the term "into a joke, a meme, something hopelessly cheugy."^[6] Alex Abad-Santos of Vox argued that the term has "shifted culturally from a noun to a verb, one that described the sinister process of capitalist success and hollow female empowerment," pointing to the parody phrase "Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss."^[7][8]

In 2021, some social media influencers attempted to redefine the term as "a sort of post-ironic area in which female evil is celebrated," such as over the trial of Elizabeth Holmes.^[9][10] A number of 2021 films and televisions series were criticised for exemplifying the term, such as Physical and Cinderella.^[11][12] In September 2021, University of Sydney Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Annamarie Jagose referenced the term while defending proposed cuts at the university, stating that "Girlboss feminism? I’m not sure what girlboss feminism is."^[13]

Criticism[]

According to Magdalena Zawisza, associate professor of Gender Psychology at Anglia Ruskin University, "It is very difficult to escape the deeply rooted gender stereotypes, and many such linguistic attempts backfire ... While 'girl boss immediately draws attention to the feminine, it also infantilises the role of a female as a boss".^[2] Mull critiqued the idea for reinforcing power structures created by men.^[3]

Gargi Agrawal of Elle argued that "the idea propagates sexism, racism and class elitism."^[14] Journalist Vicky Spratt argued that the term was "a sexist Trojan horse... if we weren’t so scared of women’s power we wouldn’t need to do this, to make it more palatable by rolling it in glitter and pinkwashing it."^[15]

Interpretations[]

Hannah Ewens of Vice noted that, although the idea is one of the 2010s, its roots go back to the 80s: "The Working Woman of the Thatcher and Reagan era, strutting in wearing her power suit, had both the boss and the baby on a leash".^[4] Emma Maguire, in an article for The Conversation, echoed a similar sentiment, saying that the idea of girlboss was only possible through feminist achievements. She chose June Dally-Watkins as an example of a historical girlboss.^[16] Ewens viewed a girlboss as a multi-tasking woman who doesn't view family as a priority and "deceptively dissolves class without understanding or interacting with it".^[4] Maguire wrote that "Girlboss rhetoric often works to propagate sexism, racism, and class elitism, among other forms of oppression".^[16]

Ewens highlighted Paris Hilton, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba and Sarah Michelle Gellar as examples of girlbosses.^[4] Mull called The Wing "an incubator of sorts for girlbosses".^[3]

Former Teen Vogue executive editor Samhita Mukhopadhyay, argued that "for women, navigating the workplace has always been about figuring out which tropes to avoid—we quickly learn not to be the doormat or the shrew, the secretary or the nag—and it seemed as though the death of the girlboss had set another trap."^[17]

References[]