What Makes a Babe a Boss Babe?

“I don’t want to be seen as a baby, because I know what I’m doing.”  It wasn’t until the end of our early morning café meetup that I discovered Jane was only 22 years old.  She’s apparently not big on telling people her age because she wants to be taken seriously, and working at a job with men who are older than she is, she has a tendency to be referred to as “cute.”  There’s nothing wrong with people thinking you’re cute of course, and Jane definitely is, but for this “boss babe,” the adjective definitely doesn’t do enough to describe all that she has going for her.

Last Thursday night I attended a meetup called “Boss Babes ATX.”  It’s a movement that seems to be very swiftly gaining attention from the ladies of Austin.  While the first Boss Babes meetup had about 250 attendees, its second meetup had about 400. So, what (or who) exactly is a “boss babe?”  After my brief introduction to Boss Babes founder, Jane Claire Hervey, I knew I needed to sit down with her to get more answers about this new movement and also get to know her a little bit better.  I needed to find out what makes a boss babe a boss babe!

This self admitted “intense” girl who graduated college early and currently works as a creative consultant, editor, and writer, grew up in the tiny Texas town of Rio Hondo which borders Mexico.  Growing up in an old-school Texas town with a population of around 2400, Jane says gender roles were very apparent.  “You would get sent home from school if your hair was too short” she says.  After moving to Austin 4 years ago and attending UT, at one point Jane shaved half of her head, creating a hairdo that in Austin would garner very little attention or assumptions.  But back home, people began confronting her with the assumption that she was gay.

“Austin is a bubble” Jane says, but she doesn’t mean this in a bad way of course.  It’s a bubble that is filled with acceptance of differences and a lack of gender expectations.  It’s a place where women are not expected to look or act a certain way.  I think one of the things Jane is attempting to do with the creation of Boss Babes, is to break this bubble.  With the Boss Babes meetups, Jane wants to create a place where all of the creative, powerful, and like-minded women of Austin in all of its “weird” glory can get together to share ideas, collaborate, and just simply hang out and have fun.  But I think most importantly, Jane wants Boss Babes of ATX to be an inspiration to all of the women, like herself, who have grown up in places with idealistic barriers.  For the sake of women in all parts of Texas, and all parts of the world, it’s time for the bubble to burst.

I did a little Q&A with Jane to get some more info about Boss Babes ATX:

What do you think makes a “boss babe” a “boss babe?”

“I think the term “boss babe” means something different to everyone, and I’m actually happy the word has some ambiguity.   To me, a “boss babe” is a mom who doesn’t give two shits about breast-feeding in public, because she’s had to change three diapers within two hours, on top of catering to a screaming infant, all while missing her morning cup of coffee.  To me, a “boss babe” is a woman who works two service industry jobs, but somehow finds the time to hone her craft (whether that be blogging, jewelry-making, music, woodworking, whatever).  To me, a “boss babe” is a woman who owns her work—and that work can be anything.”

What role does fashion and style play in being a boss babe?

“I don’t think fashion and style play any role in defining who is or isn’t a boss babe, but rather they supplement all of the wonderful things that make the boss babes of Austin so rad and special. I think that clothing can be used to send a message—of art, inspiration, culture, etc.—to others, and these diverse takes on style and fashion make our meets so unique. Walking into a meet is like walking into the human equivalent of Smorgasburg (a food truck/booth fest) in Brooklyn; it’s overwhelming because there is so much to take in and so much to explore and experience, but it’s also incredibly refreshing to be in a place so full of diversity and so full of life. Our babes are visually stimulating, that’s for damn sure, in their own individual ways.”

Is there such a thing as “boss dudes?” Are guys allowed to the meet ups?

“We don’t discriminate gender at our meets, and guys are actually welcome to attend. However, we want the space to be fem-positive at all time and as woman-centered, as possible, under the premise that the definition of “woman” encompasses many things.   For those reasons, I would argue there isn’t really a need for the term “boss dude.” The cultural training that exists within our society, and the way that women have existed within that patriarchal framework, has allowed for the term “man” to simultaneously umbrella the term “boss.”  At #bossbabesATX, we do believe that women face different barriers in the workplace than men. That’s why we use the term “boss babe,” because we’re trying to reinforce that those words aren’t mutually exclusive; women can be female and in charge—without being bitches, without hating each other and without a man’s help.  We’re tired of the traditional stereotypes. They debilitate women. They keep women from talking to each other (for fear of being judged, for fear of competition, etc.), and they also keep women from getting the money they deserve for their work.  All of this goes to say that if a man shows up to our meet because he considers himself a “boss dude,” he’s probably missing the point of #bossbabesatx altogether.”

Who do you consider to be boss babe icons or role models (besides Beyoncé obviously)?

“Man, our list is pretty long, but I can give you four.

Gloria Steinem? She’s queen. I’m a huge fan of hers, because she started Ms. magazine, which essentially politely slapped every gendered women’s magazine in the face.

We’re also big fans of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (she’s the feminist quoted in the iconic Beyoncé song), but not for the reasons you suspect. Adichie has spent a lot of time speaking out in communities where feminism is not widely accepted, and that’s babe as fuck.

Then, there’s Frida Kahlo. We love her work. Through her pieces, she redefined beauty, vanity and women’s involvement in the art world. We own too many things with her face on them.

Laverne Cox is also a huge inspiration for us. She’s done so much for the LGBTQ community, and she’s been at the forefront of reshaping the rigorous, and oftentimes oppressing, definitions that come along with being a textbook “woman.” She’s also a kick-ass actress, and I really wish I had her hair.”

The next Boss Babes ATX event is a music showcase on June 27th in collaboration with Glitter Tribe which is featuring some badass female-fronted bands. Check out the event page here for more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/695628763871961/.  Regular Boss Babe meetups will take place once a month, so check out their facebook page to keep up so you don’t miss your chance to buy a ticket to the next meetup: https://www.facebook.com/bossbabesatx

Joanna Wilkinson