Why We Should Stop Using "Girl Boss," "Boss Babe," "Lady Boss" and Other Feminized Entrepreneurial Words

Entrepreneurialism

Apr 30

The term “girl boss” never felt right to me. There’s a huge empire behind it (which I follow, because they have great content), but the word itself left me with an odd feeling. Even worse were the terms “boss babe” and “lady boss.”

But I used the hashtags anyway in an effort to connect with other “ladypreneurs.”

Until it hit me.

Why can’t women just be bosses?

Think about it. We don’t see men using “boy boss,” “boss bro” or “manpreneur” to describe themselves, so why do we women feel compelled to add our pronoun to a term that should be gender neutral to begin with?

I should rephrase that- why do we women entrepreneurs feel compelled to add our pronoun to a term that is gender neutral to begin with? (Because you don’t see women in management at large corporations using “girl boss” either.)

At first I thought adding “girl,” “lady,” and “babe” to boss was empowering for women, but it’s not. By adding female pronouns, we’re implying that “boss” belongs to men, that in order to show women are bosses we need to add a “she” to it.

We don’t.

If women want the same opportunities for advancement in their careers and the same opportunities to start businesses as men have, we need to get comfortable- and OWN!- the fact that we can be and are bosses too.

What sounds more authoritative?

“That’s my boss” or “That’s my lady boss”?

“I’m the boss” or “I’m a girl boss”?

Gloria Steinem put it best when she said, “The person with the power takes the noun - and the norm - while the less powerful requires an adjective.”

Let’s take back some power. If you’re the boss- that’s it- you’re the “boss.” How empowering does that feel?

P.S. While using #girlboss, #bossbabe, #ladyboss and more could probably boost my exposure on Instagram, I will no longer be using these hashtags. I’d rather stand by my beliefs and maintain integrity, even if it takes longer to grow my business. Because whenever we let one thing go, it increases the opportunity for more “little things” to compound until they become big things. Instead, I’m going to use #smallbusiness, #shopsmall and #supportlocal to connect with other entrepreneurs- whether they’re “girl bosses” or “boy bosses.” =)

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