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Just as soon as the sun set on “Boss Babe” and “Girl Boss”, the social media sun rose on “lazy girl jobs.” Taking over TikTok at an incredible rate is the notion of seeking jobs, mainly by GenZ women, that are completely remote, low-stress, high paying, end at 5pm, and devoid of meddling bosses.

On the surface, I completely understand the concept and its appeal. Last year, I quit my 22-year, well-paying career that came with a 112-mile round-trip commute and an excruciating work environment, in exchange for starting my own creative business so I could work whenever I wanted, wherever I wanted.

“Quiet quitting” opened the door and held it open to usher out hustle culture. It needed to go. We lived far too long being told by well-groomed 20-something men that if we weren’t getting up at 4am to “rise and grind” for 14 hours a day to build our empire, we would never amount to anything.

A culture shift is necessary. “Lazy girl jobs” is not the culture shift we’re looking for. In short, adding a gender tag to any part of women’s work experience is degrading and sets women back more than it empowers them.

The last thing women need right now is false empowerment cloaked in a cute saying destined to be emblazoned on dozens of shirts in Etsy shops exactly 14.9 seconds after I publish this piece.

The inherent issue with the need to define “lazy girl jobs”

Gabrielle Judge, the 26-year-old influencer who coined the term, insists she meant no harm and that the term is connected to the idea of feeling so at ease with your job that you almost felt like you’re being lazy.

Consider the actual statement being made here. It’s beyond the idea that work as a soul-crushing endeavor has been normalized. Is it that far-fetched an idea to acknowledge that employees are tired of doing the work of multiple people for the same pay in offices that the pandemic showed us are obsolete?