Titles Not To Use When Marketing Women in Leadership
There is a thin line between empowering and derogatory
I am all for empowering and highlighting successful women and female leaders. However, there is a difference between celebrating the success that these women have achieved, and downplaying their accomplishments with cutesy names.
Leadership roles come with coveted titles. People WANT to be the “boss”. They DREAM of the “CEO” label. In our society, the reality is that clout is often more tied into the names we have rather than the work we do.
Think about it. “Boss” is oftentimes associated with power. “CEO” means you spearheaded something new.
In contrast, cutesy names don’t carry the same connotation. In fact, I’m willing to bet that the last time you used a cutesy name was when talking to your three-year-old nephew.
Now let me get something straight: If someone wants to use their accomplishments to promote girl power or women in leadership positions, all the power to them. There are a hell of a lot of hurdles that women need to jump over to get into positions of power, so we should celebrate their hard work.
But the sad reality is that these cutesy names often sound derogatory. They demote the worthiness of the individual. They dilute the accomplishment by putting the focus on the sole fact that this person is a woman.
And that is not empowering.
1. Girl Boss
The definition of a boss is “a person who is in charge of a worker, group, or organization.”
In theory, “Boss” should be a unisex noun. In reality, the word boss is almost always associated with a man. After all, the characteristics that make a man a “boss” would almost always make a woman a “bitch”.
Calling women in leadership “Girl Bosses” reinforces the idea that there are two categories of bosses — normal bosses and bosses who are women. It turns on that little voice in your head that says — “you might be a boss, but you still have to sit at another table”.
She’s not a girl boss. She’s a boss… and she happens to also be a girl.
2. SheEO
Chief Executive Officer. CEO is pretty much the ultimate compliment in entrepreneurship. It’s the top of the company totem pole.
Almost every budding entrepreneur dreams of being a CEO. So how would you feel if you worked your entire life to become the Chief Executive Officer, just for someone to focus on your gender rather than your accomplished role?
Unless someone is calling themself a SheEO, don’t insult them by stripping them of their well-deserved title.
3. Working Mother
Being a working mother is hard. Being a working parent is hard. Having kids is a full-time job in itself.
In the right context, “working mother” can give a sense of empowerment. I mean, I cannot argue that Mom is superwoman. Anyone who can work 40 hours and then come back to a crying baby with a smile on their face deserves a cape.
But when you say “working mother” out of context — for example when discussing professional matters — it just reinforces the idea that women belong at home as care owners.
And in case you didn’t know, it’s 2021. Women belong in the office, just as much as any man.
Guess what? A child requires both a man and a woman. This means that for every working mother, there is also another working father. In fact, I bet at least half of your male co-workers are working fathers.
Yet you never hear the term “working father” being thrown around. (As an aside: I agree that many fathers do not get enough recognition.) While home and work are clear separate buckets for males, women cannot get away from motherhood even in the throes of the office.
At the end of the day, context is king. And when “working mother” is being used in the wrong context — as is often the case —it takes away focus from her abilities within the office.
4. EntreprenHER
Honestly, I find that this title is only ever used when someone wants to put a blinding light on a woman in entrepreneurship. Emphasis on the word “blinding”.
Yes, she is an entrepreneur. Yes, she is badass. But also, she’s a freakin’ entrepreneur who accomplished something amazing in the business world.
There is nothing that bothers me more than an article about a successful woman that focuses only on how she succeeded as a woman, rather than how she succeeded as a person.
If you want to highlight her as an accomplished entrepreneur, go for it. But you better make sure that she is painted with more than just a pretty brush.
