The term “girl boss” became a part of popular culture in 2014. It was coined by entrepreneur Sophia Amoruso, the founder of Nasty Gal, and was meant to refer to a woman who was unapologetically ambitious. The girl boss seems like a feminist as she strives to break glass ceilings, and the title feminist is something that she whole-heartedly embraces because the corporate success of a few women is feminism – right?
Recently the girl boss, or rather girl boss feminism, has come under attack. Several self-proclaimed girl bosses have been revealed to have fostered toxic work environments including the original girl boss, Sophia Amoruso, who has had several workplace discrimination lawsuits filed against her. In light of this and the release of Netflix’s ‘I Care A Lot’, I’ve been wondering: Was girl boss feminism anything other than a marketing ploy? I don’t think it was. It always felt superficial, like it couldn’t go any deeper than its “THE FUTURE IS FEMALE” merch, and maybe that’s because girl boss feminism seems to exclude most women. It has been aimed at empowering white, college-educated women, who – and let’s be honest here – are already being empowered by mainstream feminism.
In her memoir “#Girlboss”, Amoruso says, “Is 2014 an era of feminism where we don’t have to talk about it? I don’t know, but I want to pretend that it is.” This quote is pretty emblematic of the girl boss. She exploits feminism for professional gain but doesn’t care to acknowledge the social and political implications of it. She is all too comfortable to work within the power structures built by men as long as they get to be on top, and she reconciles this by claiming that she’s making change from within. But the girl boss can’t make change from within because she isn’t inherently better than any of the men that were already occupying those power structures.
The main issue with girl boss feminism is that it isn’t really feminism. Yes, being a strong, unapologetic woman is a good thing, but if you aren’t actively helping to empower all women you aren’t a feminist.