The #Girlboss Movement
By Alaina Hickson
For those of you who do not know me personally, my name is Alaina Hickson and I am fifteen years old. In August of 2020, I became a journalist for Eco Gen Magazine and a blogger via my platform Growing Up 2000s. In December, I published my first novel - The Suds in Her Hair, - and in April I became a journalist here; at Our Era.
I know. It's a lot.
I’d like to think that I enjoy doing all of these things: I love writing, and I love making friends, and via these platforms and opportunities I can do just that. But, as I said prior, I am fifteen. I cannot vote, I cannot drive a car, and hell, I can barely leave the house without my mom! So why; why did I do all of this at such a young age?
The answer seems to lie in the hashtag: that hashtag being #GIRLBOSS.
From the get-go, #GirlBoss sounds like it is simply just a feminist movement denouncing the idea that only men can be bosses. We’ve all been through the wringer, we’ve all heard it before, we know.
But #GirlBoss is much more than that. It’s a book. It’s a story. It’s the idea that women can be whatever they want to be without any male influence. It sounds so very bad-ass, and that is no lie.
Popularized by Sophia Amoruso in her novel #GirlBoss, #GirlBoss tells the story of Amoruso selling her clothes on eBay to now being the founder of Nasty Gal. As said by Amoruso, #GirlBoss is a woman who is in charge of her own life. She gets what she wants because she works for it, and as a #GirlBoss you accept and control your own responsibilities. If you are #GirlBoss you work for what you want, and nobody and nothing can stop you!
But let's be real here: is this idea okay for young girls to hear? If we keep pushing these young women too hard to reach for their dreams, can it have a negative effect rather than a positive one? I sat down with one of my closest friends, Emma Claire Ritter, who is a poet, blogger, and someone I can relate to in terms of #OverWorking and #OverWriting at a young age.
Chatting With Emma:
Hey, Em! Before we begin, tell us a little about yourself.
Hi! My name is Emma Ritter and all my life I have thrived off of my creativity and my passion for writing. I have a blog that focuses on spirituality and self-help, specifically catered toward like-minded teenagers. It is called Lost in Thought.
Why and when did you begin your blog, Lost in Thought? What about your poetry?
I started designing my blog Lost in Thought in eighth grade and by my freshman year [of high school] I built up the courage to start posting lifestyle-related content. This past year I have recentered my blog on what is important to me, and how I can add value to other people’s lives, which is through my spirituality and new outlook on the world. For my poetry, - since about fifth grade, - I knew I wanted to be a writer, but it wasn’t until middle school I discovered my love for poetry and how everything made sense when there was a pad of paper and a pen in front of me.
What is the hardest part of being a writer at such a young age?
The pressure. [Laughs]
Okay, so this entire debate about being a #GirlBoss is pretty powerful. What does being a #GirlBoss mean to you?
To me being a #GirlBoss means to run yourself dry until you have no more creativity. As a seventeen-year-old, I think in a way it can be positive because it has good intentions, but it is often applied in the wrong ways.
Do you think the #GirlBoss movement is negative or positive?
It’s negative: not for what it is, but what it has become.
Finally, why do you think this idea of being a #GirlBoss is so intoxicating but also negative for young girls entering their teen years, or more specifically, those who are getting ready to apply for colleges?
I think so many young girls have so many great ideas, but you can’t do it all when you are young. You may have the talent, but not always do you have the experience, and lessons need to be learned along the way. You don’t always know what you want, and the #GirlBoss movement focuses more on the goal, rather than the journey to get there, and that puts this idea in young girls’ minds that you can’t take a break. As well, the hardest part for me personally is trying to accomplish the #GirlBoss career when I am spending all of my time also focusing on my academic success.
So, all in all, I think this idea of being a #GirlBoss is simply based on this false sense of “wokeness.” In no way am I trying to sound bitter or upset because Amoruso is so successful: I am actually really proud of her! She took her vintage clothes off eBay into a huge company, and that is actually AMAZING! But, the thing is, is that her success was simply based on luck, and that idea is toxic for young women. If we tell them that in order to be successful you just have to “wait” and “be a feminist” meanwhile, it's simply just untrue. Amoruso’s story in her novel is based on her rags to riches story, but I can’t even count on my two hands the number of people who do the same exact thing as her, and sell either no clothes or little to none… (long story short, they are not living their best life in Cali.) So, to be a #GirlBoss, here is what you really to do:
Be yourself.
Don’t measure your success in comparison to those around you.
And of course, 3. Work for what you want, and love the journey: not just the goal.