Who do you picture when you hear the word 'Girlboss'? Is it our former president, Megawati Soekarnoputri, or our Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani? Whoever comes to your mind, they must be some women who hold great power. The term 'girlboss' is normally used to describe a strong, independent, successful, self-made woman. Ultimately, girlboss is used to picture role models, the women we looked up to. Girlboss has sparked a movement that encourages women to take charge and promotes empowerment in the workplace. But recently, this movement has taken a different turn. Girlboss is now an internet meme. Many have also criticized this movement for being insensitive to class struggle. By highlighting the toxicity of this movement, people on the internet are using the phrase 'Girlboss, Gaslight, Gatekeep' as the new version of 'Live, Laugh, Love.'
From Empowerment to Internet Meme
The term 'girlboss' became popular in 2014 after it was used in Sophia Amoruso's autobiography, which then turned into a Netflix adaptation. Amoruso was the founder of Nasty Gal, an American fashion retail company. In 2016, Forbes named her as one of the richest self-made women. Since then, 'girlboss' has become the go-to word for describing a self-made woman that succeeds in breaking the glass ceiling of a male-dominated workplace.
In this case, the girlboss phenomenon was seen as empowerment, because it encourages women to be strong and confident in the workplace. Rooted in feminism, the girlboss movement promises that the world will be better after women rule the workplace. Because, after all, feminism was supposed to be about equality. And when we're all treated as equal, all will be right and fair in the world.
But after some years, the shiny promises of the girlboss movement started to fade away. More people realize that not everyone can be a girl boss and being a 'self-made' woman requires privilege. Girl Bosses are not the rules, they're the exceptions. Moreover, more people realize that girl bosses can also be as toxic as male bosses.
Now on the internet, the girlboss has even become meme-able with the ultimate phrase of 'Girlboss, Gaslight, Gatekeep', a toxic version of 'live, laugh, love'. This phrase became popular after the girlboss movement failed to fulfill its promises. Gaslighting is a form of emotional manipulation that makes people question their own emotions, while gatekeeping is an act of limiting other people's opinions by making them feel unqualified. Both of these toxic traits are seen as complementary to being a girlboss.
From cartoon characters, famous movie villains, to real-life public figures, the internet likes to make fun of the celebrated 'girlboss'. For instance, the infamous Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada (2006), a character from a movie that turned into a meme. As the editor-in-chief of a celebrated fashion magazine, Miranda's character was cold, distant, and cruel to her subordinates. She was exceptionally skilled in making other people feel small and would do whatever it takes to maintain her high-rank position (even if she had to sabotage her friend's job). I used to want to be like Miranda Priestly. Thanks to the internet, I now realized she was a toxic boss.
What Went Wrong?
So how does a movement that aims to empower become a joke and eventually an internet meme? First of all, it's dangerous to romanticize some particular leaders because of their gender. Because celebrating female leaders, no matter who they are, means assuming that women are inherently good. Take Kamala Harris for example. When she became the first US female vice president, girls around the world were cheering and applauding. She was a double minority; she's a woman and came from an African/Asian-American descent. The girlbossification of Kamala Harris treated her like she was the perfect politician, and her victory was our victory, while in reality, politics is never black and white. In the past, Kamala was criticized for some of her controversial policies regarding criminal justice reform.
While it's a good sign that women can now be leaders, we shouldn't treat them as two-dimensional figures of right and wrong. Women who held power should also be accountable for their actions, similar to men. After all, the goal of feminism was not to replace male domination with female domination. If the goal was only to replace men, the system would never change, and inequality will remain.
Second, the girlboss movement caters to some specific demography. Simply put, it's not inclusive. Girlboss achieves only one thing-for women to be able to achieve high-rank positions, but it neglected the most crucial part of feminism, that for it to happen there must be equal opportunity for all. Meanwhile, not every woman has the privilege to shatter the glass ceiling. A lot of women-working-class women especially-will never be a girlboss no matter how hard they work. Not because they're afraid to take the challenge or lack the perseverance to break the barriers, but because they don't have the means to do so. Some of us still need to work from one paycheck to another and probably never be a CEO or a manager. The reality is, not everyone can afford to be a self-made woman, and that's okay.
Bear in mind, this critique does not intend to undermine the struggles and hard work women have done to achieve their success. On the contrary, it serves as a reflection on the issue of representation, privileges, and inequality. Instead of romanticizing women who reached the top, we can all work together on finding a way to shatter the glass ceiling once and for all. Women's roles are diverse. We are worth more than our title, and our identity does not deserve to be diminished into archetype roles such as housewives, mothers, or even girlboss.
