Women have been shattering glass ceilings and successfully leading businesses and organizations for quite some time now, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that these powerful women were stamped by the term “girl boss.”
Girl boss, coined by businesswoman Sophia Amoruso in her memoir #Girlboss, was originally used to refer to women who were CEOs or in other business leadership roles. These women weren’t waiting for the patriarchy to be dismantled, they were ambitiously pursuing a seat at the table without anyone’s permission and without any doubts about their capabilities. In doing so, these girl bosses were showing the world that they needed to take women seriously and opening the door for other women to follow suit.
Eventually, this term shifted to refer to more than just women who were entrepreneurs or CEOs but to also apply to a specific “go-getter” attitude and persona. These were women who wouldn’t let anyone get in their way on their journey to success, and they were known for uplifting other women and supporting them on their own journeys.
As the girl boss began to take off in modern vernacular, Amoruso- who was a CEO in her own right, owning women’s fashion retailer Nasty Gal- launched the LinkedIn-esque platform Girlboss. This platform, started in 2019, fosters an online community where women can connect and network with other “girl bosses” in leadership roles across various industries.
During the height of the girl boss era, #Girlboss sold over 500,000 copies, a Girlboss Netflix series was created, and the Girlboss platform gave way to successful conferences and industry-disrupting ideas.
However, while the Girlboss platform continues to thrive, the girl boss term and ideology has lost a lot of traction over the past couple of years. What was once seen as a symbol of female empowerment has now shifted into something less meaningful and perhaps even disadvantageous to women who are trying to succeed in corporate America.
How the girl boss name has changed over time
While there is not one single, concrete reason why the idea of the girl boss has turned from something positive into something more negative over the past couple of years, there are a few factors that should be taken into account:
For one, the origins of this movement became messy, changing the idea of a girl boss from something inspiring to something a bit more sinister. Until it eventually went bankrupt, Amoruso’s Nasty Gal was plagued with allegations about poor management and discrimination, including a lawsuit in 2015 where former employees claimed they were fired right before they were to go on maternity leave. These ideals were directly contradictory to the ones that the girl boss was intended to present, leaving people wondering whether the girl boss was such a good thing after all.
The girl boss trope slowly began to be associated with cruelty, unfair labor practices, and unrelenting ambition rather than resilience and empowerment.
Furthermore, the term girl boss is one-sided, potentially creating the opposite effect of what Amoruso originally intended. There are no “boy bosses,” and in today’s society, people still expect men to take on leadership roles in nearly every industry. The very idea that the term girl boss exists might suggest that instead of just owning these leadership roles and climbing the corporate ladder like men are able to do, a woman’s gender has to be highlighted over her merit. She’s not a boss, she’s a girl boss, which according to gender psychology can be seen as a separate (and in some eyes, lesser) position.
Likewise, the term girl boss uses the word “girl” instead of “woman,” which may make it more difficult for some to regard these girl bosses with respect. Men in CEO positions are not referred to as boys, and doing so would make them seem inexperienced and less professional in any industry. In a society where women have had to fight to earn respect within corporate America, being referred to as a “girl” is not quite as empowering as it once might have seemed.
Reclaiming the title
While these factors may have contributed to the end of the girl boss movement, the core of this ideology, that it is okay to be ambitious and help uplift other women, still stands.
Ultimately, any woman who has successfully navigated the obstacles and inequality they are presented within life is a boss! When women are able to find success and help younger women feel like they can eventually find success, too, it’s a win. Whether these women want to call themselves girl bosses, some other term, or nothing at all, it is entirely up to them to decide.
Hopefully, as the years go on, there will be a growing number of women who are starting and running businesses as well as a growing number of young women who believe that they can find success in their industries.