"Lady McBiden" - It's 2025 and Yet Society Still Puts the Knock on Ambitious Females

It's out there in the ethos and it feels like it'll be sticky. That's the moniker for First Lady Jill Biden: Lady McBiden.  The reference is from the drama by William Shakespeare "Macbeth." In it is the stereotype of the ambitious female who pushes her husband to more. Destruction follows. 

The shock isn't that this sort of thing would be grafted on to a First Lady. It's that here it is 2025 and an ambitious woman is still being vilified for yes, being ambitious. That’s still being treated as a crime against social norms.

Back when boomer females were first coming of age, we were socialized to mask ambition. We were warned that if it showed no one would marry us. 

Then came along the second wave of women's liberation. Sure, the knock would be put on us for being ambitious but we could stand up to it. Gloria Steinem showcased that there was no need to get married. As I went along building three career paths I never did get married.

Jill isn't alone in being treated with distaste for her drive. Some boundaries are still in-tact. For example, US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson raised eyebrows for her appearance in Broadway musical "& Juliet." Since the plot involved queer that participation was also vilified for bad taste. Could a male SCOTUS Justice, though, have gotten away with that? 

Overall, women have been in the front lines of pushing to achieve, shamelessly. 

The big names made at law firm Paul Weiss range from former partner Roberta Kapan who took on Donald Trump in court and won to current politically tuned in Karen Dunn whose career circles back to advising Hillary Clinton on communications. 

Melania Trump is coming into her own as a leader. 

CEO at Citi Jane Fraser is turning the financial institution around. 

Nicole Kidman blew up in "Baby Girl" the assumption that aging women can't be sexy. 

As X CEO Linda Yaccarino may be able to create real value in that tough environment.

Driven females still concerned about "what others are saying" might default to the old-line power tactic of being likable. In the classic on that sort of thing - "The Power Game" by Hedrick Smith - that's singled out as a primary source of getting away with going after what you need and want. 

Let's face it: Jill isn't likable, at least to many of us. It's irritating to Ph.Ds. like myself that she allows herself to go along with being called "Doctor." As if she had earned a medical degree. 

Overall, she was no Betty Ford, who with her warmth and candor, was her husband's number-one asset. 

And who doesn't admire Eleanor Roosevelt's courage and activism. Jill isn't in that force field.

Wise driven females can take out insurance against reputational dings by boosting their Emotional IQ. About that, I perceive Jill as not concerned enough. 

Affordable Career Coach Jane Genova provides end-to-end career services, ranging from diagnosis of the challenges and fix-it strategies to preparation of resume/cover letters/LinkedIn profiles and how to gain control of an interview. I specialize in over-50 work issues. My edge is a background in marketing communications. For a confidential complimentary consultation please text/phone 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com. Remote and in-person.