How many of us know of the film “The Devil Wears Prada”? Well if you have not seen the film, you have probably heard of Prada since it is one of the best brands out there.
For the benefit of those of you who do not know about this, let me give you a quick brief: The Devil Wears Prada is a 2003 best-selling novel by Lauren Weinberger about a young woman who is hired as a personal assistant to a powerful fashion magazine editor, a job that becomes nightmarish as she struggles to keep up with her boss’s gruelling schedule and demeaning demands. It spent six months on the New York Times best seller list and became the basis for the 2006 film of the same name starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt.
The Miranda character is based on Anna Wintour and some people refer to her as the devil because of her cold personality and temperament also she likes to wear Prada. The novel is considered by many to be an example of the “chick lit” genre.
Believe you me, a few years later the “chick lit” genre is still very much a thing especially in the working place. The corporate world is still dominated by a culture of corporate bullying which has become rather normal under the guise of “mentorship” or “bringing out the best in you” from the “Mirandas” of today. This cold personality and demeaning manner of approach seems to be a norm particularly amongst women. We see this not only in the work place as this plays out in organisations such as the church, women forums and society in general.
I was particularly reminded on International Women’s day which was on 8th March, the acting chair person of the commissioner of gender equality in South Africa, Ms T. Mathebula shared some findings during an interview on ENCA, a news channel. She said bullying was still a serious issue in the corporate world and a hindrance to achieving the desired goals of gender equality. She mentioned that the bullying was unfortunately not only from the men but mostly from the women who were in senior/managerial roles. It was interesting for me to realise that once again that aside from sexual harassment and other unfair practices against women in the work place, bullying was a major concern. Also I am not too surprised that women are also part of the bullying which take place since I have also at some point in my career experienced corporate/workplace bullying in that I was bullied by a supervisor who is a woman. Corporate bullying is real and it is one of the stumbling blocks for gender equality in the work place. Although there is no legal definition of corporate bullying most academics define it as a persistent pattern of mistreatment from others in the workplace that causes either physical or emotional harm. It can include such tactics as verbal, nonverbal, psychological, physical abuse and humiliation.
In our quest for gender equality in the workplace and our desire to empower women, I struggled to comprehend why a women would stand in the way of such a vision and I was reminded of a quote by the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. She says “The overwhelming majority of women accept the patriarchy and protect it. Traditionally the violated wife offloads her aggression onto the daughter in-law. Men dominate women through the agency of women themselves”
It is sad to see that the “Miranda” effect has carried over into some sort of life cycle because for some reason the one who was once the young woman suffering from Miranda’s vices ends up becoming a Miranda herself once she lands a powerful post. She goes on to create an audience of her subjects who witness a dose of her cold personality and temperaments. And then of course the “chick clique” serves as a cheer leading squad always hyping Miranda-but of course Miranda’s healthy ego is good for our selfish interests- we must do well to stroke it every now and again lest we bear the brunt of her coldness. The “chick clique” can even go to the extent of organizing women empowerment seminars and conferences neglecting the very women who are in dire need of the said empowerment eventually all these events are just another “get together” for the elite clique and material for social media and brand influence. I can just imagine how Miranda of the Devil Wears Prada would have been a big hit on Instagram if she had social media in her time. Today’s Miranda certainly has social media as an advantage to a certain extent, it fuels her character and gives her a wider audience. Aside from this, she is still Miranda, she is still the devil -only that she no longer wears Prada but she wears Louboutin.
By Lerato Charlotte Letsoso| Email: leratokayise@gmail.com
