On today’s agenda: Girlboss, Gatekeep, and Gaslight. A counterpart of manipulate, mansplain, and malewife, these terms have transgressed over time from motives of female empowerment to a means of ridiculing women. Let us dive deep into the evolution and impacts of the triple G and reflect upon their future.
Girlboss
First coined by Nasty Gal’s founder, Sophie Amuroso, girlboss was originally unironically used as a way to forge ahead, break the glass ceiling, and progress at ANY cost. In today’s day and age of Gen Z wisecracks, being a girlboss is a mere mockery. Promoting the toxic “that girl” trend which urges how we must constantly remain productive, the girlboss can be perceived as an unattainable workaholic standard. Gen Z has sought to redefine this term; however, it is often through humorous self-deprecation. Commonly coupled with a social media post about an amusing failure, “girlbossing” is not something we take seriously anymore. More recently, the girlbosses of our society have been exposed for their flawed girlbossing, revealing that women can be just as discriminatory and oppressive as our male counterparts. At the end of the day, do we really want to girlboss? We’ve seemed to have gotten to a point where you can only rise above by pushing others down. Now, under adverse optics, girlbossing is a phrase to cautiously follow, as it may bring controversy if done incorrectly.
Gaslight
Named after a 1938 play by Patrick Hamilton, gaslighting stems from a malicious desire to alter one’s reality. Now victim to the buzzword mafia of our generation, gaslight is essentially a decorative term for lying. This term is commonly used to depict offensive instances in a male-dominated workplace or relationship power imbalance. Women continue to face injustice and in the realm of feminist empowerment, I interpret it as an extreme means to an end. Sometimes we have to gaslight them before they gaslight us. On a more serious note, gaslighting is a serious wrongdoing and I am in total support of fighting fire with fire. Yet, rather than gaslighting, we should aim to discipline, reinform, and punish abusive behaviors and create a safer path for girls to blossom into women.
Gatekeep
“Oh you listen to Pink Floyd?… name three songs right now.”
I’ve seen variations of this interaction numerous times and always think to myself, “Dude you don’t own Pink Floyd!” Music, amongst other commonly enjoyed recreations, shouldn’t be gatekept. Finding every excuse to patrol inquiries they like, gatekeepers often crossover into the identity of the “pick me” girl. A controversial and hurtful title, the “pick me” girl is not like other girls; she is “one of the boys” and in the worst way possible. In cohorts with gaslight, pick me girls are deemed another offensive classification of women. Part of me agrees with this backlash, as we should all equally share the fountain of joy that comes from “niche” things. Why gatekeep the silly things? Yet, another part of me questions why can’t we gatekeep? Especially as a woman, gatekeeping can almost be synonymous with remaining competitive. In simple terms: a silent hustle. Gatekeep has so quickly evolved into a means of slander but we must recognize the power and capabilities that gatekeeping gives us.
We’ve exhausted, depleted, and warped these terms.
Girlboss, gatekeep, gaslight. What lies in the triple G’s future? Will we as women reclaim and redefine these terms? I hope we enter a new era with their identities, promoting solidarity and unity, and ultimately redefining what it means to girlboss, gatekeep, and gaslight.