Female Leaders in Film 1
Stereotypes of Female Leaders in Film
Andrew Evans
Azusa Pacific University
Contemporary film currently misrepresents women in high level leadership roles. Films
such as “The Devil Wears Prada”, “Iron Lady”, and “The Proposal” do not accurately portray
real world examples of highly successful women in leadership. Instead these films show
stereotypes of the roles society believes women play in the workplace. The film industry has
displayed female leaders as autocratic, task oriented, agentic, and transactional based leaders.
These women have little personal and family life, and their entire existence is based in their
professional success. These stereotypes, which are reinforced throughout these three films, are
in opposition of current research and real world examples of female leaders.
Stereotypes in film are a problem because film reflects our culture and beliefs. Although
film is seen as a form of entertainment, it often represents the current way of thinking in our
culture and society. Movies are not only forms of entertainment, but the more we watch them,
the more their values become present in our society. People may think that there is no
connection to culture and film, but I believe that film also influences our thinking, and may aide
in creating negative stereotypes about women in leadership roles.
These stereotypes can be clearly displayed in three particular films. The first film which
negatively portrays the role of women in leadership is “The Proposal”. This film is centered
around a high level editor who lives in New York. The main character is Margaret. Margaret is
the highly successful chief-editor of a New York publishing company. She has a young assistant
named Andrew who has worked for her for years. She demands a high level of work from
Andrew, and in return he receives almost nothing. She is in the United States on a visa when she
finds out she may be deported. She soon devises a plan and blackmails her young assistant to
marry her so she can become a United States citizen.
Female Leaders in Film 3
This film reinforces the stereotypical role of a successful female in many ways. The first
way that it negatively portrays a successful woman is through the lack of work-life balance.
There is a false truth in our society that in order for women to have a successful career they must
give up their personal life. In the film, Margaret is completely engulfed by her career. She has
no desire for friends, family, or a relationship. She sacrifices her social and personal life for her
profession.
This idea is supported by White, Cox, and Cooper (1997) who found that highly
successful women experienced burnout in their personal lives. Women in that particular study
were found to be less likely to engage in activities outside of work. Despite evidence revealing
that some women may experience a lack of balance between work and personal life, there are
many women who are able to experience a prosperous career and fulfilling personal life.
Not only does this film create a false truth surrounding successful women and their
personal lives, but it also portrays the leadership styles females in an unfair way. During this
film Margaret is seen as a purely transactional leader versus a transformational leader.
According to Northouse (2010), transformational leaders must create trust and confidence
amongst their employees. They should encourage others to focus beyond their own personal
need and center their work around the overall goal of the team. A transactional leader, in
contrast, appeals more to the followers self-interest as terms of motivation. The transactional
leader focuses on motivates subordinates by creating situations to help them succeed
individually, which in turn helps the group (2010).
According to Eagly and Cairli (2007), female leaders are more inclined to interact more
interpersonally and consider the needs of the followers more than men. They are more likely to
act in a more collaborative role, thus showing that they tend be slightly more transformational in
nature than men. This idea is also supported by Porterfield and Kleiner (2005) who found that
women scored higher in terms of emotional intelligence, which in turn may lead to higher levels
of transformational leadership capabilities.
As research shows, women tend to lean slightly more towards transformational leadership
versus transactional leadership (Porterfield & Kleiner, 2005). The film “The Proposal” displays
the opposite view of leadership style in women. It does a poor job at truthfully representing the
way that female leaders interact with subordinates. In the film Margaret is shown as a purely
transactional leader. Her ability to motivate her employee Andrew is only based on what is good
for Andrew, not what is in the best interest of the organization. Margaret blackmails Andrew
into marrying her by promising a promotion to Andrew. This situation is the complete opposite
of a transformational leader. She motivates Andrew not based on trust and the overall good of
the team, but she motivates him on his own personal well-being (Northouse, 2010).
Not only does this film mislead the audience into thinking that successful female leaders
have no personal life outside of work, but it also builds the stereotype that female leadership is
unable to obtain a successful family life. There is a underlying theme that women either must
choose work or family, but they cannot have both. This is seen through the role Margaret plays
as a single workaholic, who spends her entire existence at work. The long hours she spends at
work leaves her no time to find a partner and create a family of her own. This depiction of
Margaret adds to the societal stereotype that females must sacrifice family for work.
The stereotype created by Margaret’s role in this film is substantiated by Liu and
Wilson’s (2001) findings that women believed that the only way to receive a promotion in their
current situation was to prioritize their work responsibilities before family. In this particular
study of women who worked in the field of technology, it was found that constraints on working
Female Leaders in Film 5
time, family responsibility, and gender stereotypes were three major obstacles that stood in the
way of advancing professionally.
The film “The Proposal” perpetuates gender stereotypes about successful women, and
their lack of relationship with their family. This film is not the only one which supports this
idea. The film “Iron Lady” portrays a highly successful female in a similar light as “The
Proposal”. This recently released film about the life of British prime minister Margaret Thatcher
displays the way that a highly successful female leaders may have to sacrifice her family for
career. Margaret is the mother of two children. One scene in the movie shows Margaret driving
off to work while her two young children are banging on the car window and chasing the car
down the street. This scene lets the audience know that she is sacrificing time with her young
children to chase her dream of being a politician.
Margaret’s responsibility as a political figure negatively impacting time spent with her
children is supported by Eagly and Carli (2007) who found that women may struggle with
balancing the act of being a female and a leader. This view is also held by Gatta and Roos
(2004) who believe that the work family balance is the biggest obstacle women face in achieving
high levels of leadership in the world of academia. The views of these two authors show that the
gender stereotypes exhibited in “Iron Lady” are not an isolated topic. Not only does the film
industry show the perceived family sacrifice of female leaders, but outside sources also reinforce
this pattern.
Margaret Thatcher’s role in “Iron Lady” negatively impacts the audience’s view of the
family responsibilities of high successful women. This film also misrepresents the appropriate
leadership style of female leaders. It confirms societies belief that women need to be more
assertive and take on more male dominated social skills such as verbal confidence (Eagly &
Carli, 2007). This is backed up in “Iron Lady” when Margaret is shown as an autocratic leader
in terms of her verbal interaction with key members of her office. One particular scene draws
attention to the stereotype that successful women must act more autocratically than men. In this
scene Margaret refuses to listen to the advice or ideas of those who work closely with her. She is
set in her ways, and does not open her ear to those around her. This is a reflection of societal
belief that in order for women to reach the top, they must not be democratic in their relationship
with male co-workers.
Thatcher’s role in this film also shows successful female leaders as task-related in terms
of team leadership. Task-related team leadership puts the focus of the team on accomplishing
the mission. Task-related leadership in more concerned with making decisions, solving
problems, and accomplishing the task at hand rather than relational aspects (Northouse, 2010).
Throughout the movie Thatcher was more focused on putting the country’s economy
back on track rather than pleasing people. Her goal was to reconcile their economy over the long
haul instead of immediately becoming popular. She believed that if she could continue to make
advances over time, eventually the people would grow to like her for what she had accomplished
rather than for her personal interactions. In other words she was not focused on being a
relational leader, she was focused on being task oriented (Northouse, 2010).
This example is a misrepresentation of female leaders. Female leaders do not have to be
solely task oriented to be successful leaders. Eagly and Carli (2007) state that women and men
are equally task centered, but women had more individualized concern and are generally more
relational than men. “Iron Lady” depicts a Thatcher in a way that opposes Eagly and Carli’s
(2007) view that women are more relational than men.
Female Leaders in Film 7
The third film which portrays a stereotype of women in leadership is the film “The Devil
Wears Prada”. This film shows Miranda, the leader of a highly successful fashion magazine, as
an unapproachable boss who lacks understanding for the feelings for her employees, and as a
result is more agentic in nature (Eagly & Carli, 2007). In the case of Miranda, things will either
be done the way she wants them, or she will simply fire whoever she feels necessary. In this
situation Miranda is shown as an agentic leader rather than communal (2007). This
representation of Miranda’s behavior shows high level female leaders in a negative and untrue
light.
“The Devil Wears Prada” depicts Miranda as failing to act authentically in terms of her
leadership style. Authentic leaders are self-aware and self-regulate positive behaviors in their
daily routines (Jensen & Luthans, 2006). Authentic leaders also have strong values, morals,
ethics, and develop trust among fellow employees (Northouse, 2010). According to Jensen and
Luthans (2006) authentic leadership displayed by the leader has a more positive impact on the
work related attitudes of followers than any other characteristic. It is clear that Miranda Presley
does not meet the qualifications for an authentic leader during the film “The Devil Wears Prada”.
One specific example of her lack of authentic leadership comes when she responds to her
assistant by saying, “the details of your incompetence do not interest me”. This line shows that
Miranda is not concerned for her employees. She is not interested in the reasoning in which her
assistant failed. She is more concerned with her personal success than the feelings and needs of
others. This is one of many examples of Miranda’s lack of authenticity as a leader.
Not only does this view of leadership presented in the film poorly characterize successful
females, but it is also in direct opposition of current research. The authors Arnold and Loughlin
(2010) found that male leaders in high level positions were less likely be a servant than their
female counterparts. Female leaders were also more likely to make a personal sacrifice for the
good of followers. Being willing to make sacrifice for the good of others is a characteristic of an
authentic leader. Therefore, current findings may suggest that females are more likely to display
characteristics of authentic leadership than males.
Not only does Miranda’s role reflect a lack of authenticity, but it also creates the idea that
high level females may have to sacrifice their marriage in order climb the corporate ladder. In
the film Miranda is married and has two children. Her husband and children do not play a large
role in the film, but it is apparent that they are present. Towards the end of the movie, it is made
clear that Miranda and her husband are getting a divorce. It is implied that her devotion to her
career, and time spent away from home negatively impacted her family life. This sends a
message to women that they cannot have both a highly successful career and family life. This
film generates a stereotype that women must make a decision between their career and their
family.
All three movies discussed thus far show examples of female leaders who sacrifice their
personal life for career success. These films also misrepresent females and their approach to
leadership. However, we see real life examples that break the stereotype of the single,
demanding, and transactional leader. Real life examples include Sarah Palin, Nancy Pelosi, and
a personal friend, Laura McCorry. All three of these women break the stereotypes depicted in
these three movies. They serve as real life examples of enjoying a family as well as a successful
career.
The first woman mentioned Sarah Palin, was able to balance serving as the former
Governor of Alaska, and having a successful family. Sarah is currently married to her husband
Todd. Palin also has five children and one grandchild.
Female Leaders in Film 9
The second woman, Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the House, was able to have both a
successful political career, as well as a successful marriage. Nancy is currently married to her
husband Paul. They also have five children and have been married over 40 years.
The third woman, Laura McCorry, is the wife of one my best friends, Sean McCorry.
Laura is currently a human resources executive for a large company based out of Orange County.
Sean and Laura have two children, Nolan and Casey. I have personally seen Laura’s career
success as she has completed two college degrees and become a very high level executive for a
company that manages human resources for Bank of America as well as other companies. She
also is in the process of raising two children. Laura has found a way to be a successful leader, as
well as a successful mother. She is an outstanding example of how women are able to balance
career and personal life.
Although all three of these women have successfully navigated career and family, one
particular female, Oprah Winfrey, is a living example of a female transformational leader.
Oprah’s transformational leadership qualities are apparent through her efforts to reach
orphanages in Africa. She is able to give food, clothing, and education to those who are in need.
This willingness to give and care for the needs of others truly displays the positive impact a
transformational leader can have on others.
Contemporary film has showcased high level female management as autocratic, task
oriented, and lacking transformational leadership qualities. Not only do these films misrepresent
the leadership qualities of women in the workplace, but they also present the view that women
must choose either a successful career, or a successful personal life. Current findings and real
life examples do not support the stereotypes shown in “Iron Lady”, “The Devil Wears Prada”,
and “The Proposal”. Instead, current findings show that women are transformational, authentic,
and relational leaders who are able to balance both family and career.
References
Arnold, K. A. & Loughlin, C. (2010). Individually considerate transformational leadership
behavior and self sacrifice. Leadership and Organizational Development Journal,
31(8), 670-686.
Eagly, A. H. & Carli, L. L. (2007). Through the labyrinth: The trust about how women become
leaders. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Gatta, M.L. & Roos, P.A. (2004). Balancing without a net in academia: integrating family and
work lives. Equal Opportunities International, 23(3), 124-142.
Female Leaders in Film 11
Jensen, S. M. & Luthans, F. (2006). Entrepreneurs as authentic leaders: impact on employees’
attitudes. Leadership and Organizational Development Journal, 27(8), 646-665.
Liu, J. & Wilson, D. (2001). Developing women in a digital world. Women in Management
Review, 16(8), 405-416.
Northouse, P.G. (2010). Leadership theory and practice (5th ed). Los Angeles: Sage
Publications.
Porterfield, J. & Kleiner, B.H. (2005). A new era: women and leadership. Equal Opportunities
International, 24(5), 49-56.
White, B., Cox, C., & Cooper, C.L. (1997). A portrait of successful women. Women in
Management Review, 12(1), 27-34.