The "Rise" and Fall of the Girlboss

The "Rise" and Fall of the Girlboss

May 31, 2026 · 2h 25m

About this episode

The episode explores the rise and fall of the Girlboss cultural era and its implications on women's career ambition.

RESTOCK ALERT: Just in time for your summer vacation, the Banned Books tote is back in stock. Alt. title: Katie finally bites off more than she can chew and attempts a nuanced exploration of the Lean In, Girlboss cultural era. 13 years ago, Sheryl Sandberg published Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead . The following year, Sophia Amoruso published #GIRLBOSS . The broad understanding of this period was that—for a few solid years—we widely embraced the edicts of “corporate feminism” or “Lean In feminism” or “Girlboss feminism,” so named for a societal shift that saw a recognition and celebration of women’s career ambition as a decidedly positive thing worthy of support and encouragement or, at the very least, a collection of sassy poly-blend T-shirts. We tried it, and it didn’t work. …but did we? Diabolical Lies investigates. All citations and references can be found at https://www.diabolicalliespod.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.diabolicalliespod.com/subscribe

People in this episode

Hosts: Katie Gatti Tassin, Caro Claire Burke

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Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, #GIRLBOSS

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