Is ‘girlboss’ the new ‘toxic masculinity’?

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Just like toxic masculinity, the idea of the “girlboss” encourages an individual to work hard, to just “get on with it”, and emphasises the necessity of being a lone wolf. For example, toxic masculinity spreads a message that men should be the ‘providers/breadwinners’, which more often than not, conditions men to equate their worth to their job, leading to overworking.” A majoritively patriarchal society has always encouraged the concept of the breadwinner – someone who must maintain financial and social stability in the name of the nuclear family and heteronormativity. Thomas Roulet, and organisational sociologist based at the University of Cambridge, also shared this view, adding that “in some of research, found that during that shift, although people were more productive on the shorter run and more engaged with work, they would be more likely to multi-task, work after hours, and text their colleagues after hours too.” In short, the blending of your work space with your home space made it incredibly hard to just ‘switch off’ from working, and to make time for yourself. The concept of the “girlboss”, and similarly the urge for success encouraged through toxic masculinity, To pretend that we are all destined for fame and money will do no one any favours – it will only add depth to the disappointment we feel when our lives do not look the same as celebrities’, despite the fact that we work ourselves to the bone.