Gen Z Has Basically Zero Tolerance For 7 Fake Girlboss Habits That Older Women Swore By
Vlada Karpovich | Pexels Girlboss culture, a result of hustle culture, is especially popular with older generations.
Many millennials even fed into the dynamic, swearing by work ethic and stereotypes as an empowering force in professional environments. But many Gen Zers with a new perspective and appreciation for a strong work-life balance are pushing back, because there are fake girlboss habits they have absolutely no tolerance for.
Fake girlboss habits Gen Z has no tolerance for that older women swore by
1. Overusing gendered titles
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"Female manager" or "woman doctor," while rooted in healthy and empowering beliefs, often push the narrative that men are the default standard in professional environments. Gen Z is working on destigmatizing and pushing against stereotypes when it comes to gender in the workplace and their personal lives.
While it might have come from the best of intentions for the girlboss era of women, at some point these terms can just play into the gendered hierarchy of power that still exists to some extent today.
2. Competing with other women
In a male-centric society, where women can sometimes subconsciously adopt male perspectives and frame validation or attention from men as the primary goal unknowingly, competition between women is especially insidious.
The girlboss movement capitalized on a somewhat genderless hustle culture in theory, but in practice it often means competing with other women to achieve some male-defined version of the perfect worker.
A lot of the issues that plague women in the workplace, including many stereotypes and stigmas, actually take a back seat to the idea that women must work harder to achieve the kind of praise our capitalistic society only offers to those who put work before everything else.
3. Being available all the time
Despite being framed as an empowering new way to approach work, being a girlboss really just amplified many of the poor work-life balance expectations that were already present in our corporate culture. From vague boundaries to working overtime on the weekends, hustle culture was simply rebranded under a falsely feminist guise.
Because Gen Z is more interested in flexibility and meaning, it's no surprise that they're turning their backs on this mentality, even outside of the harmful gender stereotypes it continues to perpetuate.
4. Ignoring opportunities to advocate
The "gatekeep, gaslight, girlboss" movement was always problematically tied to a certain demographic: white, college-educated women. It protected and tried to empower the ways that they showed up at work, but overlooked so many other pictures of womanhood and femininity.
It's easier to hyper-focus on yourself, so it wasn't always a dedicated choice to leave out other women. But choosing to stay comfortable and on track with your own goals, instead of advocating for everyone's access or influence, is a bad choice.
Gen Z is moving beyond empowerment and making real changes. They're advocating for hybrid structures and better time-off policies, as well as equitable pay and even four-day work weeks. They're doing so in ways that break down truly harmful structures at work, rather than relying on a misguided picture of feminism to only help a handful of women.
Feminism and intersectionality are nuanced by nature, but this movement can easily dull it down to a privileged, whitewashed version if we're not careful.
5. Using toxic positivity
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When the girlboss movement started, it was intended to be motivating and empowering for women. Over time, however, it quickly turned women's work ethic and ambition into a joke or a meme that Gen Zers encountered. It didn't turn into what it was created to be.
There may be a handful of women who still resonate, but for Gen Zers, it just feels like another excuse to judge and dismiss women in professional spaces.
6. Tolerating institutional weaknesses
Gen Zers are innately challengers, unweaving social norms that hold back certain groups and advocating for social issues. They're not in the business of tolerating institutional flaws, especially at work, when they have the power to change things.
They know that self-empowerment can only go so far. And even though the girlboss movement motivated some women, it didn't change any of the institutional stigmas and norms that continue to harm women in their professional lives.
It places a lot of burden on women's shoulders to change things, but in reality, it's a collective issue that requires everyone's attention and participation.
7. Shaming themselves for their needs
Even if you have a strong work ethic or ambition, you still need rest. You still need breaks and time off. The girlboss movement, rooted in capitalism and hustle culture, even while being broadcast in a different package, shamed women for needing these things.
They were all climbing a ladder and surviving, without any of the real support or the benefits they needed to thrive. It's a structural problem, not often a personal one.
So, despite the goal of the movement, it's no surprise that nothing changed. That's why Gen Zers take a different approach, instead of continuing the cycle of exhaustion and burnout.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor's degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
