The female CEO trap
Female leadership is an irreversible fact in the labor market, but… does the CEO stereotype change when a woman takes the lead?
Over the last few decades, the number of women occupying high-ranking positions in different areas, such as the business sector, finance, politics, etc., has increased considerably. There has been a notable expansion of working horizons for enterprising women who challenge gender norms and fight for leadership positions that have been occupied traditionally by men. However, it’s possible that these changes do not represent a qualitative modification of the role of “CEO”, “boss” or decision-makers in general, but instead simply maintain the stereotype with an inversion of the gender of the person in charge.
To elaborate on this point, exemplification may be clarifying. I’ll use as an example the reversion of the “Dinasty” TV series, specifically the character of Fallon Carrington. Being a multimillionaire businessman´s daughter, Fallon is 25 years old and her ambition is very specific: she wants her father to name her as the COO of the family company, with a long trajectory and great power of influence in the city of Atlanta. Claiming credit for the position, she gets frustrated when she learns that her father has decided to name his new young wife, Cristal, as COO (Chief Operating Officer). Therefore, Fallon will use all his power, money and energy in ranting against his stepmother to take the position “by hook or by crook”, eventually leaking a sex tape of Cristal with an old lover to the american press. This is how Fallon, in the process of “winning” the job, ends up being just as vindictive and competitive than her own father, if not worse.
Despite the fact that it’s an 80s fiction, reversioned in a much more progressive era, I don’t think it’s too far from reality. How many times have we witnessed situations of hatred between women, fostered by a strong sense of competitiveness? Showbiz programs and social networks are the main arenas for pitched battles. María Florencia Freijo, who graduated in Political Science, makes a clear statement: there are few places for women to occupy in the labor market, that we must try to take them before another woman does, even if it compromises our feminist ideals.
At this point, it’s necessary to press pause: when a minority of women gain access to managment or decision-making positions, it seems that they must fight, “to pay your dues”, as it’s said, which implies on certain occasions defending their position at the cost of behaving equally or more rudely than other male bosses.
Gender norms have radically divided our roles in society: while women must be quiet, submissive and calm, men must be tough, tempestuous, impulsive and decisive if they want to earn the respect of their own circle. Today, gender norms are at the center of the discussion; however, as controversial as it may sound, I don’t believe that the solution to thousand of years of inequality is to try to occupy the same role that men have occupied without making radical changes in the attitudes that are generally attributed to hierarchical positions. In other words, it does not represent a real change for a woman in a hierarchical position to be insensitive, selfish or unfriendly. Instead, I believe that good examples are set when people with a high level of influence in society carry out good deeds and really care about the welfare of the community. This applies to all hierarchical positions, whether public (political, ministerial) or private (business and SMEs).
This debate is amplified in the United States, a country where, in addition to the feminist debate, historical racism is being questioned by young people. Deja Fox, the young consultant to current Vice President Kamala Harris, explains it concisely in her tweet.
As we can see, the discussion is much more complex than what is presented in this simple post. Perhaps, a possible counterargument that comes to my mind is that it is not very honorable to criticize women who occupy these positions, since it has taken the female gender enough time and effort to break through the glass ceiling to reach them. I clarify, from now on, that my opinion doesn’t have, under any point of view, any intention of discrediting the women who occupy them; but, on the other hand, I consider that it’s truly important that the feminist movement dares to give these discussions, since the existence of women leaders is a fact and, as such, we must take advantage of it and encourage other women to take the power, if they wish to do so.
