It’s time to say goodbye to the terms, ‘girl boss,’ ‘mompreneur,’ ‘She-EO’ and all the offshoots of these. They aren’t cutesy, they aren’t empowering and they need to go away.
Call Us What We Are
We are bosses, entrepreneurs and CEOs, just like our male counterparts. Look at it this way: we would never refer to a man as “boy boss.” It’s weird, and it sure as hell isn’t helpful in ensuring equality in the workplace.
Using terms like the above undermines the very achievements they were coined to cheer on. The need for a gendered qualifier instantly sets women’s accomplishments apart from those of our masculine colleagues. Like the now frowned-upon term “female athlete” and “actress” before it, they assume male dominance.
Stop Saying It
Until women stop using gender-specific phrases, we normalize them and ensure our vaginas are part of the dialogue around leadership. Your gender should not factor into whether you are a good boss, business owner or employee. Conversations need to center on your abilities, not how being a female influences how you lead.
The worst part is that women embrace these terms and entire organizations or associations spring up around the concept. We know women are still fighting to achieve equal pay, as well as access the same opportunities men are afforded simply by being present…however, we should not ask for special treatment simply because we are women. What we want and what we need are to be treated equally.
We want to be the best boss, not the best female boss. The best boss. Period.
We need to speak up for ourselves and demand equality at home and work. Embrace the abrasiveness and get loud. Drop the degrading, cutesy, gross female-centric phrases…instead be the badass you were meant to be, gender notwithstanding.
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