Debunking The Girlboss Trope: What Female Leaders Really Face and Female Philosophers Can Provide Inspiration
Guest Author: Kaia Philippe
The term "girl boss" was first coined by American businesswoman Sophia Amoruso, who founded women’s fashion retailer Nasty Gal at the young age of 22. Amoruso's actions as depicted in her autobiography, "#GIRLBOSS," illustrate what a girlboss is supposed to be: She is a woman who uses her ambition to secure power and success in a male-oriented corporate landscape. According to the girlboss trope, achieving success in business or the workplace can help women as a whole achieve equality.
The narrative of the girlboss is initially promising: It allows women to envision a future when they can stand side by side with men, who have historically wielded power –– especially in the corporate world, where girlbosses mainly operate. However, a closer look at the concept in comparison to the realities women face today will show that the girlboss trope is at best a fantasy, and at worst a reinforcement of imbalanced power structures. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the girlboss trope and discuss what the philosopher Diotima of Mantinea might say about it.
What’s wrong with the girlboss trope?
The main problem with the girlboss trope is that it takes the conversation away from the real problem, which is that men have unfairly wielded power and used it to keep women beneath them. It posits that the empowerment of an individual woman, particularly in the business world, can help to lift the women around her. However, rather than dismantling the forces that actually keep most women down, the girlboss trope only wants women to climb upward. Attitudes promoted by the girlboss trope even encourage putting other individuals down, regardless of gender. Amoruso herself was accused of multiple instances of malpractice against her employees.
The girlboss trope is further complicated by the fact that women face more barriers to success than men. Women in leadership roles face four common paradoxes: They are expected to be goal-oriented, yet selfless; demanding, yet caring; authoritative, yet authentic; and professional, yet approachable. Such high, specific standards make it difficult for many women to achieve the standards of success set by the girlboss trope. And rather than challenging an unfair system, the girlboss trope expects women to merely navigate it. Girlboss is not a revolution, so much as a changing of guards.
Furthermore, the girlboss trope ignores other goals women may pursue. Are successes in other areas, such as family life, creative pursuits, charity, or social justice, not as valuable as growing one’s net worth? And how is making a lot of money as an individual a win for the entire population of women?
What do philosophers say?
Through philosophy, we can evaluate the standards society sets for success. In "The Symposium," Plato introduces the philosopher Diotima, a teacher of Socrates. Socrates himself refers to Diotima as a woman of Mantinea, or a woman who is wise in many things.
It is from Diotima that Socrates derives a concept called the ladder of love. According to Diotima, individuals first experience love when they are drawn by physical beauty. After this form of love, individuals begin to appreciate deeper forms of beauty, namely the beauty of souls (noble characters that promote personal growth), the beauty of laws and institutions, and the beauty of knowledge –– until they can appreciate the form of beauty itself. When a person contemplates the form of beauty, they will no longer be seduced by the material.
By way of this framework, we can see that the beauty promised by the girlboss trope is merely a low form of beauty. It chases a desire for something material: money. Because money comes and goes, women following the girlboss trope’s standards for success will never be satisfied. To feel true fulfillment, women need to ascend higher on the ladder of love and appreciate things that transcend the material, such as good virtues in their peers that promote personal growth, and deeper knowledge and philosophical understanding.
Ultimately, closer examination of the girlboss trope reveals that the concept is more problematic than promising. Aside from reinforcing the power structures that keep women down, it also offers women very little lasting internal fulfillment.
- Kaia Philippe
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