“Girlboss”. Chances are, you’ve heard the term before, but you probably don’t know how the now-common slang term came to be.
The term “Girlboss” was first popularized in 2014, when businesswoman Sophia Amoruso used it as the title for her autobiography. The original meaning is pretty self-explanatory: a woman in a boss role. It was often paired with glamor shots of corporate women in colorful pantsuits, and became a marketing phenomenon for “girl power.”
However, it is not quite the empowering term it was once perceived as. This BBC article article explains how the term can actually diminish the prevalence of women in leadership roles in the workplace by suggesting that there needs to be a special feminized equivalent word, rather than letting “boss” be gender-neutral.
Recently, the term is being taken less seriously, at least by members of Gen Z. You’ve likely heard the phrase “gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss” at some point. Putting “girlboss” in the list with “gaslight” and “gatekeep” insinuates that it is a similarly toxic action.
Using the term in a serious way to talk about powerful women is often thought of as “cheugy”, or out of style, but some Gen Z girls still claim the term for lighthearted or joking compliments for other women.
While we may now only use the term “girlboss” ironically, it is fascinating to learn where it all began.