sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

, a superwoman (also sometimes called supermom) is a Western woman who works hard to manage multiple roles of a worker, a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a hous ...

, a volunteer, a student, or other such time-intensive occupations. The notion of "superwoman" differs from that of "

career woman A career woman is a term which describes a woman whose main goal in life is to create a career for herself. At the time that the term was first used in the 1930s American context, it was specifically used to differentiate between women who either ...

" in that the latter one commonly includes sacrifice of the family life in favor of career, while a superwoman strives to excel in both. A number of other terms are derived from "superwoman", such as superwoman syndrome, superwoman squeeze (a pressure on a superwoman to perform well in her multiple roles), and superwoman complex (an expectation of a superwoman that she can and should do everything)."Superwoman Complex A Pain In The Ego"
by Judith Serrin, '' Boca Raton News'', July 28, 1976 Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz entitled her book ''The Superwoman Syndrome'' in 1984."The superwoman syndrome", by Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz, Morton H. Shaevitz, 1984,

Post second-wave feminism

Origin of the term

The notion was first recognized in the post

second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It took place throughout the Western world, and aimed to increase equality for women by building on previous feminist gains. ...

American society of 1970s–1980s, with the shift of the woman's traditional role of a

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

towards a more career-oriented way of life. This life involved the pursuit of both traditional female roles in the home and with children, as well as the pursuit of traditionally masculine goals in the form of jobs and public social status.

Criticism

The term and its concept have been critiqued by people within the feminist movement. English feminist and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

Lucy Delap argues that the idea of the "superwoman" has been perceived as exclusionary by many feminist

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...

s. Moreover,

Betty Friedan Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book ''The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...

, an American feminist, in her book ''

The Second Stage ''The Second Stage'' is a 1981 book by American feminist, activist and writer Betty Friedan, best known for her earlier book ''The Feminine Mystique''. Summary Friedan contends that "first stage" of feminism, a movement intended to liberate wo ...

'' argued that "superwomanhood" of the 1980s has led to double enslavement of women, both at home and at work. Her advice for feminists was to step up to the "second stage" of the feminist movement and to struggle for reshaping both

gender role A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...

s and redefining social values, styles, and institutional structures, for the fulfillment to be achievable in both public and private lives without the necessity to sacrifice one for another. This yearning for balance within a feminist framework was called a "shift from the Superwoman ideal to the Balanced Woman ideal" by American feminist Catherine Rottenberg. As the role of the "superwoman" became less popular going into the 1990s, the continued model of the "superwoman" still used in advertisements also received criticism. One ad in particular featured a woman dressed in 1950's garb posed above text that reads, "It's not easy to pull together the perfect holiday." The notion of the "superwoman" also faced backlash from critics of second-wave feminism primarily in the 1980s-1990s. According to American

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and feminist Susan Faludi, these critics deemed "superwomanhood" a feminist goal that could not be achieved due to the juggling act the role required women to undertake. This reaffirmed, in the postfeminist era, the idea that was propositioned by anti-feminists before the second-wave: that women could not have a career, a family life, and be fulfilled all at once.

Modern relevance

The United States

Despite the modern woman's increased role in the workforce within present western culture, domestic responsibilities and child care are still perceived primarily as female work. In today's cultural climate, evidence of this can be found through studies as well as in modern resources, such as online parenting guides and discussion sites.

Australia

A 2007 study done in Australia concluded that the everyday lives of both fathers and people without children were less strained than women who fell under the "superwoman" role.

Popular media and texts

The term was also used in a somewhat similar context in the Stevie Wonder song "

Superwoman Superwoman is the name of several fictional characters from DC Comics. Most of them are, like Supergirl, women with powers similar to those of Superman, like flight, invulnerability, and enhanced strength. Detective Comics, Inc. trademarked ...

", released 1972. It was the title of a 1975 book by

Shirley Conran Shirley Conran OBE (née Pearce; born 21 September 1932) is a British novelist and journalist. Early life Born in 1932, she attended St. Paul's Girls School, London, and then a finishing school in Switzerland which later provided some inspir ...

; she also wrote ''Superwoman 2'' (1977); ''Superwoman in Action'' (1979); and ''Down with Superwoman: for everyone who hates housework'' (1990). Modern examples of the superwoman are also pervasive in contemporary film and television shows. Sarah Orem identifies

Miranda Bailey Miranda Bailey, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional character from the medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy''. The character was created by series creator and producer Shonda Rhimes, and has been portrayed by actress Chandra Wilson since t ...

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into s ...

as an appropriate example of "superwomanhood" due to her extreme competence within her doctoral field while simultaneously raising a family and acting as a social leader.

Notes and references

{{Feminism Feminism and society Sociological terminology Working time Feminism and the family Parenting Motherhood Slang terms for women