Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Sen. Bernie Sanders wants women to stop paying for contraceptives that should be free, woman-founded Waabi raises $200 million for autonomous trucks, and author Samhita Mukhopadhyay reckons with what comes after the girlboss in an excerpt from her new book, The Myth of Making It. Have a thoughtful Juneteenth.
– After the girlboss. It’s easy to say the girlboss is dead. The term, originally coined by entrepreneur Sophia Amoruso, certainly is. It faced a reckoning in 2020, when a sprinkling of stories alleging toxic workplaces and racist behavior in women-led, mission-driven startups turned into a wave of high-profile exoduses from these companies including the Wing founder Audrey Gelman, Reformation founder Yael Aflalo, and Refinery29 founder Christene Barberich.
But is that the whole story? With the girlboss backlash, it felt like young women, heretofore encouraged to give in to unfettered ambition, were now being chastised for wanting to get ahead. Women in my life started to whisper about how some of the callouts, while justified, also felt unfairly targeted—more at the women’s ambition than at how they implemented it. “Why should I hide that I work hard?” said one. “I hope no one is ever interviewed about my management,” a former coworker said to me.
When our admiration for girlbosses started to unravel, I sighed with relief; I, too, was ready to do away with the ungodly pressure to be not just wildly successful but well-coiffed, thin, able-bodied, constantly motivated, and driven by purpose every moment of my life. But I also knew from my experience working with younger women that hustle culture was the water in which many of them—and especially women of color—swam. Young women believed working hard was the only way out of the conditions they were living in or were born into. For them, there were few alternatives.
Despite its many flaws (and being a little cheesy), the spirit of the girlboss—stripped of Instagram follower counts and untenable investment dollars—does provide an on-ramp for young women into bigger questions about their vision of career success that is cognizant of gender, equality, and justice. And I knew firsthand that many young women, especially the ones who were less privileged, needed to believe they could get ahead in order to do so.
The broad idea of a girlboss is in need of reinvention, not a funeral—one that is cognizant of its drawbacks but acknowledges its power and the need for an alternative path. The girlboss identity was, in part, a survival mechanism for women in a brutal and taxing work world that puts inordinate amounts of pressure on women to succeed and stereotypes them as not feminine enough when they do. But, like any other corporate feminism, it also functioned in part by convincing women that the onus is on them (and them alone) to make their lives better, rather than asking that we all work to change structural inequalities and fight together to better the lives of women.
Yes, we should critique a system that requires inhumane sacrifice disguised as aspiration. And we should certainly hold toxic, problematic, unethical leaders accountable. But the girlboss backlash makes clear that ambitious women still make people uncomfortable. It seems to say that there is something crass about wearing your ambition on your sleeve, and about being honest and forthcoming about wanting to change the economic circumstances that have been handed to you.
We know the “hustle harder” ethos of girlboss culture is not on its own the way to secure a feminist vision of equality worldwide, but it has also been one of the few paths out of marginalization for women—especially those often left out of economic progress. And as we push for equitable workplaces and continue to galvanize our collective power, it is imperative that we expand our definition of how women can make that happen.
From the book THE MYTH OF MAKING IT by Samhita Mukhopadhyay. Copyright © 2024 by Samhita Mukhopadhyay. Published by Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC.
Samhita Mukhopadhyay
thesamhita@gmail.com
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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Chasing charges. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.) is urging the Government Accountability Office to investigate why women are still being charged for birth control plans that are supposed to be free. The Affordable Care Act mandates that health plans include access to free birth control, but recent studies and investigations indicate that some insurers are trying to dodge the rule. Washington Post
- Truckload of cash. Waabi, the driverless truck company founded by CEO Raquel Urtasun, announced that it raised $200 million in funding from investors including Uber and Khosla Ventures. The company expects its first batch of fully autonomous trucks to hit the road next year. Fortune
- Eyes on the ball. A face-off between the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever on Sunday became the most watched WNBA game in 23 years thanks to a budding rivalry between rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. The game peaked at 3 million viewers. The Athletic
- Good business. In a new guest essay for Fortune, Winx Health (formerly Stix) cofounder Jamie Norwood says that creating a free educational platform alongside the company’s women's health products was critical to achieving profitability. Norwood says brands must target similar initiatives to appeal to Gen Zers who are tired of traditional marketing. Fortune
- Pain-free promise. Tokyo’s female governor Yuriko Koike announced that the city would subsidize the cost of epidurals if she is reelected this year in an attempt to raise the country’s low fertility rate. Her most popular opponent, Renho Saito, pledged to raise pay for contract and part-time workers, most of whom are women, if she wins. Bloomberg
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Roblox promoted Desiree Fish to chief communications officer. Ballistic Ventures hired Nicole Perlroth as venture partner. Allianz Commercial appointed Vanessa Maxwell to global head of cyber. Webflow named Linda Tong chief executive officer. Jasper announced Loreal Lynch as chief marketing officer.
ON MY RADAR
Lindsey Vonn on losing her mom to ALS: ‘never waste a chance to say I love you’ Elle
Why these Chinese working mothers don’t want more babies New York Times
The great Reformation Puck
PARTING WORDS
“I have a belief that change is possible. I have a belief that this country is worth fighting for, that my state is worth fighting for.”
— Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a trans woman, on her faith in the “system.”
