Mary Barra: A Look at the Modern Female Role Model

If you ask the average college-aged female who Mary Barra is she would likely be clueless. In contrast, ask about Adriana lima or Candice Swanepoel and the response would most likely be gushing about how gorgeous they both looked in the Victoria Secret Fashion show last week and jealously over Lima’s glow or Swanepoel’s perfect curls. In lieu of the glitz and glamour that was brought by the annual show that occurred last Wednesday, the rest of the world was still taking in the news of the appointment of the new CEO of General Motors Mary Barra, just a day before. As the VS models put on their makeup and wings, Barra donned a new set of ‘wings’ that put her high above any other car industry female in history.

On Tuesday, December 10th, Barra became the first-ever female CEO of a major automaker with her appointment at GM. While fully deserving of the praise and admiration from all, Barra was shoved under the runway as young girls prepared to watch beautiful females flaunt their bodies at the fashion show. As I turned to Twitter and Instagram throughout Wednesday, I was bombarded with posts upon posts of pictures and tweets of the Victoria Secret models bearing almost all for the world to see, with endless girls adoring and jealously raving about their grace and beauty. As I looked further down, I noticed not a single post happened to be about Mary Barra, a woman single-handedly paving the way for all women in the workplace and the world.

As I settled into my library nook that night, beginning to study for finals, while it seemed the rest of the college female—and male—world turned on their TVs to watch the show, I really questioned the female role models many young girls have in the world today. While most girls should have taken heed by skipping the show and hitting the books, most were skipping dinner and hitting the gym in the hopes that they will look like the models by the time spring break hits; the desire to be thin and gorgeous has taken over the desire to be successful and groundbreaking in careers and other parts of life. Before we all endlessly devote ourselves to the cause of one or the other, we need to take a deep look at who these women really are and who we are trying to model ourselves after.

We live in a world filled with amazing and innovative women that are setting the groundwork for other women around the world. With a range of outstanding potential role models such as Lean In author and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg to 15 year-old Taliban-activist Malala Yousafzai, women everywhere are showing that our potential to make an impact is limitless. The highly touted expectation for women to stay home and raise their families is no longer the norm. Mary Barra, apart from her career, is a 51 year-old married woman with 2 children. She accomplishes maintaining a successful business and family life flawlessly. Barra achieved her status by working from the ground up and showing the sheer power of the female initiative and mind.

While I am not putting down women like Adriana Lima and Candice Swanepoel as role models, for they are very successful as international models in their own right, I am merely attending to the fact that girls look more to mirror themselves off of beauty and weight when looking for female examples than brains and grace. While I believe girls are headed in the right direction with looking up to women like Jennifer Lawrence, a good amount of college-aged girls still use models and their looks as mentors for their own lives.

Whether the so-called college bubble or busyness of school could be to blame for the modern girls lack of knowledge of truly influential women in our world, the simple fact remains that girls need to look into the broader world of business, politics, science, and other career fields to attempt to find powerful women to shape their lives after. In January of 2014, Mary Barra will officially take over the role of CEO at GM and further the feminist power movement in our world today. As just one example of the changing of the role of women in our world today, Barra should be known and looked up to by all girls as a true model of what we should all strive to accomplish and be more like in our own lives.

Photos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

• role models
• women