Debates
Cracking Girl Code
In public and personal life according to 'girl code' no woman can be wrong and women must support other women to prove their feminist credentials. But while some celebrate any woman in power, whether Jacinda Adern and Angela Merkel, or Amy Coney Barratt, Sarah Palin and Priti Patel, others argue that, like men, women must be judged on how they use their position. The gap between the girl bosses and the activists is widening.
Should women support other women independently of their qualities and their approach? Or should we call out the differences between exploiting the patriarchy and overthrowing it in order to achieve lasting progress? Is feminism about being on the side of women whoever they are and whatever they stand for, or has individualism taken over the movement?
Author Nina Power, Independent journalist Maya Oppenheim and King's College academic Hannah Dawson test each other's grip of Girl Code.