I’m rooting for female founders’ comebacks. And for the end of branding women, from girlboss to tradwife and all the way down

It’s hard to remember now, but there was a time when the term “girlboss” was aspirational. I was a rising young tech executive at the time, so inspired by the movement that I became a part of it, setting off to start my own company and a powerful community of female founders on the side. All of a sudden I saw role models everywhere. Equal opportunity seemed, if not totally within reach, at least possible.

In retrospect, the golden girlboss era peaked right around the time of Audrey Gelman’s 2019 cover photo for Inc. , the first to show a visibly pregnant CEO. That cover was a powerful, much needed symbol. I should know – I was pregnant at the time, too.

Within a year, Gelman, cofounder and CEO of the Wing, had been “canceled,” as were dozens of prominent female founders of the time.

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