“Girl boss makes me cringe. We are just bosses. Straight up boss. It’s like if a gangster calls herself “girl gangster” would that be very gangster to you? No, you’d laugh.”
At the risk of sparking some controversy, and perhaps losing some followers – today’s blog was inspired by a post which caused some debate in the female-centric, business support network that is the Facebook group known as Like Minded Bitches Drinking Wine (LMBDW).
LMBDW is a wonderful forum in which many women who run their own businesses, ask the other members for advice on biz related matters. Sometimes members will offer special promotions for their products or services in order for others in the group to benefit. Most of the time, it’s a beautiful showcase of women supporting other women.
A recent post within the group, sparked my intrigue as many shared their unfavourable perspective of the terms ‘girl boss,’ or ‘boss lady’ etc.
Here were some of the comments left on the post:
“I cringe anytime I hear ‘girl boss’ or ‘boss lady.’ It might have the right intention but you don’t hear about men with a family and a career celebrated for being able to ‘have their cake and eat it too.’”
“Girl boss is as is mature sounding as big girl pants. My two year old is going to wear big girl pants soon. Then by next year she’ll just call them pants. We should just call ourselves bosses.”
“It’s not a term I admire at all and associate it with immaturity. If those women (and there’s a book so entitled) wish to use it, perhaps it is good for them to appreciate the image they create. Branding is what people carry in their heads about your brand. It starts there. There are lots of immature brands.”
The above comments (and many of the others) honestly came as a shock to me. The truth is, I respectfully disagree.
Not for one moment since starting Content Savvy almost a year ago, had I considered these terms to be derogatory, condescending or immature. Quite the contrary, I actually find them to be empowering and self-motiving.
I often refer to these terms within my social media in order to attract women who own their own businesses, and are of like-minded work ethic and values.
I wear the girl boss badge with pride. I feel honoured to be a girl, a lady and a woman and I have no reservations referring to myself as such within the realms of business. Does this make me immature? Of course it doesn’t! I’m just as serious and hard-working as the next person and shouldn’t be judged as anything otherwise.
To call ourselves girl bosses displays a ‘collective mentality’, that of support, love, nurture, drive and passion. The constant need to compare ourselves to what the men are doing (or what they are calling themselves) seems irrelevant and tiresome to me.
I am the kind of person, and we are the kind of business that encourages others – men AND women in all their endeavours and congratulates them on all their successes, without comparison or the constant need for competition.
The use of these terms is not spitting in the face of feminine equality, rather, they have created a platform for women in powerful positions as a collective, to support, inspire, motivate and encourage one another – a beautifully empowering movement. Mind-set is a powerful thing, don’t you think?
I would much rather adopt this mind-set in my daily workings rather than that of anger or disgust. It’s a much more peaceful way to live.
X Cat – Boss Lady of Content Savvy.
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