The Glass Ceiling & The Illusion of Equity

Today, its definition has broadened to describe women in management or executive positions, especially in traditionally male-dominated workforces. However, the mentality of girlboss feminism is, by its nature, exclusionary of WOC and women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. This mainstream ideology is inherently linked to unjust hierarchies that late-stage capitalism promotes. According to activist Angela Davis, the concept of “glass-ceiling feminism” consists of “supporting women who are already at the top.” The idea that women need to shatter a glass ceiling and become powerful leaders in their industry furthers the capitalist propaganda that liberation of one woman comes from the exploitation of all others.

In 2013, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg published her bestselling novel Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. Since its publication eight years ago, the book has faced considerable backlash from WOC, most notably former First Lady Michelle Obama, who said in a 2018 speech that “it ’s not always enough to lean in, because that sh*t doesn’t work all the time.” For white women like Sandberg, achieving corporate equality might be as easy as forming “Lean In circles” — groups of women who meet to support each other and learn new skills — with fellow professionals and asking for raises, but it ’s often not so straightforward for WOC, who have to deal with implicit bias beyond just their gender identity. Beyond race, women of lower socioeconomic status who are forced to work multiple jobs or don’t have the luxury of hiring domestic services may not have the time to simply “lean in” due to responsibilities beyond the scope of their day jobs.

Similarly, the trend of female professionals who have published self-help memoirs inspiring other women to take initiative in the workforce — Nicole Lapin’s Boss B*tch, and Ivanka Trump’s Women Who Work, to name a few — boast a watered-down version of feminism in which all it

takes to achieve gender parity and equality is some hard work and effective elevator pitches. Despite criticism surrounding these books, like in Obama’s 2018 declaration, their ideals are still widely perpetuated, both by these authors and by white women in general.

The problem with this girlboss feminism isn’t the feminism itself, it ’s the prioritization of white, affluent women as the dominant voice in spheres of discourse that should be led by individuals of color.

By idolizing white women as the epitome of feminist power and the manifestation of the “strong, independent woman,” society once again brushes off the contributions of WOC as less than the opinions of their white counterparts. While white women can afford to advance in the workplace, WOC are forced to first overcome the diminishing experiences and hostility they face in the workplace before they can even begin to seek raises or promotions. This manipulative dynamic is not a symbol of progressivism, no matter what the mainstream media pushes. Instead, this is a symbol of white ignorance — women are not a monolith, and denying the lived experiences of WOC is directly contradictory to the ideals of intersectionality. Ignoring the contributions of BIPOC feminist activists and devaluing their work allows for WOC to slip through the cracks of conventional feminism. Feminism and anti-racism aren’t either/or movements; in order to achieve a truly equal society, both philosophies must be adopted and adhered to. In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests that consumed the media in the summer of 2020, many white social media influencers were publicly called out for instances of racism and harassment. Reformation CEO Yael Aflalo, for example, stepped down in June over accusations of discrimination after several Black former employees spoke up about the supposedly sustainable fashion brand’s negligence of diversity and lack of representation in promotional content. Despite the sustainable branding and messaging on the company ’s social media platforms, the reality of the racism that employees have faced sheds light into the dangers of solely promoting whitewashed feminism as a model for equality. As many outwardly progressive media outlets, including Refinery 29 and Man Repeller, published their support for the Black Lives Matter movement online, the ignorance of these companies’ rampant culture of elitism, favoritism, and racial microaggressions distracts from the overall sentiment that discrimination in any form is not okay. Part of this issue stems from the fact that feminism and capitalism are so radically different — in order to achieve corporate success, concessions are often made in terms of cutting workplace diversity, undercompensating workers of color, and ignoring patriarchal corporate culture. Therefore, the easy “Yes, you can!” feminism of these content creators falls flat in parallel to the institutional barriers that prevent feminism and capitalism from coexisting. And amidst the chaos of the nation’s current sociopolitical climate, the need for systemic change runs much deeper than what self-help books have to offer. Here, white women’s naivety in thinking that all it takes to dismantle traditional cisheteropatriarchal society is some glitter and girl power is ignorant in light of the multidimensional problems that WOC face due to their dual identity as women and racial minorities.