Living
Why ‘Burnout’ Feminism Is Replacing the Girlboss, Lean In Era
Some women have done an about-face this decade, turning away from the calls to go all in at work.
Illustration by Oh Mu
When I think back to peak hustle culture, in the 2010s, I think of Yahoo Inc. Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer insisting to Bloomberg Businessweek that it’s possible to work 130 hours a week, as long as you’re “strategic” about when you use the bathroom. I think of media boss Joanna Coles walking on her treadmill desk in high heels and telling the Cut, “I’m not terribly interested in relaxing.”
Most of all, I think of Lean In: former Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg’s 2013 manual for white-collar women aspiring to scale the corporate ladder.