People in the media are all about representing you.
Or maybe it would be more appropriate to say they’re representing a “you:” the you they think they’re representing but who you have no connection with. It’s like that “successful business woman you” all over the newspapers these days, the one that’s decades older than you and whom you can’t see any of you in.
At least, that’s the feeling Madeleine Overturf had when she was sitting in front of NYU’s journalism building last May. Browsing the World Wide Web, Ms. Overturf, now a graduate, had a startling realization that the “top American businesswomen” looked nothing all the successful girls in her age range. Expressing how she felt to fellow NYU journalism major Hannah Orenstein, the two reached an agreement and eventually came up with the idea tha blossomed into the HBIC Project.
“HBIC?” you might wonder, “Isn’t that a rather rude acronym on Urban Dictionary?”
Well, yes. In case you’re not that Internet-savvy, HBIC stands for “Head Bitch In Charge,” a title some take offense to and others take pride in. Misses Overturf and Orenstein take the latter view.
“We used to tweet that to each other all the time,” says Hannah . “It became this sort of inside joke, so it only made sense that it would eventually become the title for our site.”
So what is the site exactly? The HBIC Project is a homage to the every-girl: the girls that haven’t gotten on the cover of Forbes or their names listed on the Fortune 500 (yet). The two founders run a series of interviews with girls– friends, friends of friends, recommended by friends– who they find to be accomplishing spectacular tasks at only twenty-something years of age. Since the site’s launch in June, the girls along with PR director Caitlyn Zioboro (another NYU girl nonetheless) have conducted seventeen interviews with ladies whose occupations range from matchmaker to “soulful chanteuse.” These, along with numerous other posts, help the audience understand that the world of successful women doesn’t have an age barrier. And they all sure as hell give pride to the title HBIC.
In fact, it seems that the HBIC Project has perfect timing. Today’s world is a world of leading ladies; a recent Time‘s article even stated how, just over the past three years, the mentions of the word “feminism” have gone up on Twitter by 300 percent. Yet there is discourse within the feminist movement itself, particularly when it regards what the term “feminist” actually means. The HBIC Project’s stand?
“It would absolutely have to be Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s, the one that Beyoncé samples on ‘Flawless,” says Overturf, “‘It’s equality for both sexes. Not matter what type of feminist you are, no matter what other beliefs you may have when pertaining to feminism, that’s what it comes down to.“
Simple, eloquent, straight to the point: the HBIC Project’s message is universal no matter what your beliefs are. So go ahead. Take a look at the site. Maybe even go a bit further and contact Hannah or Madeleine with a potential interviewee. (“We don’t bite,” jokes Overturf, “We’d be more than happy to hear about new women to write about. And we even answer back!”)
But most definitely check out HBIC Project’s event Women’s Night Out this Thursday at the Revision Bar & Lounge at 8:30 PM. The HBIC Project takes physical shape in the form of a massive girls night out that includes drinks, socializing, networking, and a chance to win “office hours” with a few well-known HBICs, a priceless evening out for a measly entrance fee of $3.
So dress-up; post-up; HBIC-up; be flawless.
(Pictured: Hannah Orenstein (left) and Madeleine Overturf)