History Main / HighPoweredCareerWoman

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'': Charlotte Pickles is beautiful and glamorous, primarily seen hurrying about in a power suit, barking orders at her never-seen assistant Jonathan over her cellphone, and paying little mind to her family life. When she does take the time out of her schedule to look after Angelica, she encourages Angelica to be as independent and strong as possible so she can succeed in the future in a "man's world". In the few storylines she features in (usually involving Angelica acting out [[EnfantTerrible even more than usual]]), she often has to figure out how to better balance her CareerVersusFamily.

* ''Series/{{Cheers}}'': Rebecca Howe is introduced as the highly competent and cold new owner of the eponymous bar after former owner Sam sells it at the end of the fourth season. Unlike Diane, Sam's SlapSlapKiss co-star who Rebecca was written to replace, Rebecca consistently rebuffs Sam's advances and keeps things strictly business. She's also extraordinarily ambitious, wanting to climb her way to the top of her company. However, we see that outside of the bar, Rebecca is a mess in a way that deconstructs a lot of the core elements of this trope: she naturally lusts after powerful men which leads her to pine over her much older superiors, she's decided to only date men who can help her career tossing "the self-made woman" ideal out the window, and she often devolves into hysterics when a wrench gets thrown into her plans. Much of this depiction is part of the series's larger critique in the later seasons of corporate culture as being soulless, unnecessarily cutthroat, and unfulfilling in the long run.

%% * In ''Film/{{France|2021}}'', the eponymous famous TV journalist played by Creator/LeaSeydoux mentions to her husband (who's a [[MostWritersAreWriters writer]]) that she earns five times more than he does when they have a dispute.

* ''Series/GreysAnatomy'': Cristina Yang is the medical field take on this trope. She sees cardiac surgery as her calling, is unabashedly ambitious, and has the surgical skill and talent to back it up. She's cold and calculating, has a veritable house of emotional walls built up, and is willing to do just about anything to ensure she climbs to the top of the cardiac surgical world, which endears her to very few of her peers outside of Meredith, her "twisted sister." Over the series, she is constantly battling with chasing her ambitions and figuring out just where romantic love and family fit in, if they can: [[spoiler:she sacrifices her own credibility to help Burke out in surgery when he suffers hand tremmors both out of love and for a chance to perform surgeries and twice she spirals after realizing she's pregnant, despite never wanting children of her own because it would take time away from her career]].

* In ''Film/{{France|2021}}'', the eponymous famous TV journalist played by Creator/LeaSeydoux mentions to her husband (who's a [[MostWritersAreWriters writer]]) that she earns five times more than he does when they have a dispute.

* ''Series/GreysAnatomy'': Cristina Yang is the medical field take on this trope. She sees cardiac surgery as her calling, is unabashedly ambitious, and has the surgical skill and talent to back it up. She's cold and calculating, has a veritable house of emotional walls built up, and is willing to do just about anything to ensure she climbs to the top of the cardiac surgical world, which endears her to very few of her peers outside of Merideth, her "twisted sister." Over the series, she is constantly battling with chasing her ambitions and figuring out just where romantic love and family fit in, if they can: [[spoiler:she sacrifices her own credibility to help Burke out in surgery when he suffers hand tremmors both out of love and for a chance to perform surgeries and twice she spirals after realizing she's pregnant, despite never wanting children of her own because it would take time away from her career]].

* ''Series/{{Girlfriends}}'':

Almost always a LadyInAPowerSuit and often sporting PowerHair, these characters are portrayed as gutsy [[TheDeterminator determinators]] with big aspirations. They are typically attractive and stylish out of necessity, in order to be at least acknowledged by their male peers and superiors.

* ''Manga/ADPoliceFiles'': The episode "The Ripper/The Paradise Loop" features Caroline, who explains that long ago she had been competing for CEO of her current company, however a man got the job because he concocted a falsified chart that compared her menstrual cycles to her productivity. To alleviate the concerns of the company's board of directors, she had [[TheDeterminator most all of her female organs replaced]] with cybernetic versions. There no longer being any reason to keep her from becoming CEO, she ends up getting the job. In time, the same man came to work under her and they fell in love and eventually married. [[spoiler: She later discovered he had cheated on her with a Paradise Loop prostitute leading to her becoming the titular Ripper of the episode out of revenge.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' pulls a DeconReconSwitch of this trope through Princess Carolyn, who starts the show off as a straight example: always on the move, continuously thinking of new plans and ways to clean up after Bojack's messes as his manager, a woman who [[TheDeterminator always lands on her feet]] even if the worse should happen. The show later explores the toll such a lifestyle has taken on her, as she has little personal life or bonds with those outside of her job. She tries to [[spoiler:have a baby later on with then-boyfriend Ralph Stilton]], only to [[spoiler:miscarry due to her older age and low fertility]]. However, by the end of the series, she [[spoiler:has adopted the child she's always wanted and is married to her former assistant Judah, the only person who takes work just as seriously as she does and is more than willing to support her any way he can]].

** Hope van Dyne starts out ''Film/AntMan'' as a cold chairperson on the Board of Directors at Pym Tech, who ousted her father from his own company out of spite, allowing Darren Cross to become CEO. However, once she got wind of Cross's plan to replicate her father's Ant Man technology and sell it to HYDRA, she works behind Cross's back to do the right thing. Her time with Scott and reconciliation with her father help soften her approach, and by the sequel, she's left her career woman side behind. Lampshaded by Luis in ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'', who calls her first film bob haircut [[PowerHair "all business"]].

However, this trope was quickly [[DeconstructedCharacterArchetype deconstructed]] as from its early days, many portrayals depict women as [[{{Workaholic}} too focused on their career]] at the detriment of their [[CareerVersusMan romantic]] and [[FamilyVersusCareer familial lives]]. QuittingToGetMarried frequently shows up as a resolution to these conflicts, as does MyBiologicalClockIsTicking. Should they decide to pursue their career goals instead of romance and family, such women are often portrayed as MarriedToTheJob and [[NotWantingKidsIsWeird criticized by the wider society]]. Some discover that WantingIsBetterThanHaving, as the success doesn't make up for the personal and familial life they sacrificed to get it. Often, these women end up LonelyAtTheTop, the narrative implying (either intentionally or not) that their AmbitionIsEvil. Taken to its logical conclusion, several end up a CorruptCorporateExecutive. On the occasion that they are able to maintain a romantic life long enough to get married, these deconstructions' partners are often shown to be resentful, {{Henpecked Husband}}s and their children, [[ParentalNeglect neglected]] and distant from them because these career-focused women are MaternallyChallenged or simply [[ParentalObliviousness too busy to care about what their kids are up to]]. Despite the numerous UnfortunateImplications, there's plenty TruthInTelevision to this DoubleStandard.

* ''Series/TheWhiteLotus'': Nicole from Season 1 is a CFO at one of the biggest search engine tech companies in the world that has recently been struck by controversy, and she's the only breadwinner in her household. She rankles at the mildest hint that her position came in some part due to the controversy, asserting she climbed the corporate ladder on her own. She has a semi-permanent professional air to her, something her HouseHusband Mark criticizes her for in private, and is only somewhat attentive to the emotional and interior lives of her children, who she very obviously both doesn't fully understand and doesn't seem that bothered ''to'' understand. And of course her husband struggles with feeling emasculated and impotent in the family next to [[CareerVersusMan her success]].

* ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'': Haruhi's deceased mom is portrayed as a PluckyGirl version of the trope in Haruhi's few memories of her, flashing Haruhi a cheesy grin in a [[LadyInAPowerSuit Power Suit]] as she confidently tells Haruhi she's going to win her next court case. Haruhi is quite open about her admiration of her mom's career ambitions and her own self-confidence and career goals are modeled after her mom's and her indifferent approach to her own gender is also informed by her mom and dad's disregard for typical gender roles.

* ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'': Haruhi's deceased mom is portrayed as a PluckyGirl version of the trope in Haruhi's few memories of her, flashing Haruhi a cheesy grin in a [[LadyInAPowerSuit Power Suit]] as she confidently tells Haruhi she's going to win her next court case. Haruhi is quite open about her admiration of her mom's career ambitions and her own self-confidence and career goals are modeled after her mom's.

* ''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse'': Thèrése is implied to work in finance and she’s beautiful, well-dressed, smart and powerful. Unfortunately, she’s also in a work that empathizes that a woman’s highest calling is [[StayInTheKitchen to be a wife and mother.]] So she’s demonized by the cast (especially her ex-husband) for being one of these.

* ''Series/MadMen'': This is Peggy's story arc on the show. She starts off as just a receptionist but dreams of more and the show follows her pursuit of becoming an advertising executive during the late 1950s and '60s. She frequently faces overt sexism from just about everyone she works with (including false accusations of her [[SleepingWithTheBoss sleeping with Don]] to get the job), which [[CharacterDevelopment morphs her]] into an IronLady of sorts by the series end, in contrast to her PluckyOfficeGirl role in the beginning. She also struggles in her personal life in finding a balance between CareerVersusMan. [[spoiler:By series' end, she gets both in the form of co-worker Stan.]]

However, this trope was quickly [[DeconstructedCharacterArchetype deconstructed]] as from its early days, many portrayals depict women as [[{{Workaholic}} too focused on their career]] at the detriment of their [[CareerVersusMan romantic]] and [[FamilyVersusCareer familial lives]]. QuittingToGetMarried frequently shows up as a resolution to these conflicts, as does MyBiologicalClockIsTicking. Should they decide to pursue their career goals instead of romance and family, such women are often portrayed as MarriedToTheJob and [[NotWantingKidsIsWeird criticized by the wider society]]. Some discover that WantingIsBetterThanHaving, as the success doesn't make up for the personal and familial life they sacrificed to get it. Often, these women end up LonelyAtTheTop, the narrative implying (either intentionally or not) that their AmbitionIsEvil. Taken to its logical conclusion, several end up a CorruptCorporateExecutive. On the occassion that they are able to maintain a romantic life long enough to get married, these deconstructions' partners are often shown to be resentful, {{Henpecked Husband}}s and their children, [[ParentalNeglect neglected]] and distant from them because these career-focused women are MaternallyChallenged or simply [[ParentalObliviousness too busy to care about what their kids are up to]]. Despite the numerous UnfortunateImplications, there's plenty TruthInTelevision to this DoubleStandard.

Compare OfficeLady, SexySecretary, and SassySecretary. Contrast HouseWife and WhenYouComingHomeDad. Frequently used to [[ShowingUpChauvinists Show Up Chauvinists]]. Depending on how proactive and effective/genuine the character is in their fight against sexism, they sometimes overlaps with StrawFeminist or SoapBoxSadie.

* ''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse'': Thèrése is implied to work in finance and she’s beautiful, well dressed, smart and powerful. Unfortunately, she’s also in a work that empathizes that a woman’s highest calling is [[StayInTheKitchen to be a wife and mother.]] So she’s demonized by the cast (especially her ex husband) for being one of these.

** In her role as the editor-in-chief to a renowned fashion magazine, Miranda Priestly is a MeanBoss, feared and revered for her IceQueen tendencies that have taken her to the top of her industry. When she is introduced, she is treated as TheDreaded and has no qualms [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech dissecting]] Andy's holier-than-thou opinion regarding the fashion industry within minutes. As the film shows, being MarriedToTheJob came at the cost of her personal life: she has a streak of failed marriages behind her and her latest husband [[spoiler:divorces her towards the end of the film]].
** Andy subverts the archetype. The film sets her up to follow in Miranda's footsteps, with Andy entering her position as Miranda's assistant completely unprepared for the work as she looks down on the industry as superficial. To do her job well however, she realizes it takes far more effort and that she has to [[BecomingTheMask be more like]] Miranda: a stylish and self-confident woman that prioritizes her [[CareerVsMan career over her relationships]], [[spoiler:which causes Andy's boyfriend to break up with her at the climax of the film. By the film's end, Andy chooses to walk away from the cutthroat world of fashion]].

** Kate is a WhiteCollarWorker of some sort, who struggles to manage FamilyVersusCareer and is shown to be overworked and exhausted, falling asleep after trying to initiate sex with her husband. She is shown to be one of only a few woman in her office and has to contend with casual sexism from her colleagues as she strives for their recognition. By the end of the film however, she [[spoiler:chooses family and takes on less work in the office]].
** She is contrasted by Momo, a junior research analyst in the office. Momo is beautiful, highly ambitious, and disapproving of Kate's lifestyle because Kate doesn't focus on her career more. This becomes a dilemma for Momo when she later [[spoiler:realizes she is pregnant and has to figure out whether or not she wants to put aside her ambitions for the child she's now carrying]].

** Hope van Dyne starts out ''Film/AntMan'' as a cold chairperson on the Board of Directors at Pym Tech, who ousted her father from his own company out of spite, allowing Darren Cross to become CEO. However, once she got wind of Cross's plan to replicate her father's Ant Man technology and sell it to HYDRA, she works behind Cross's back to do the right thing. Her time with Scott and reconciliation with her father help soften her approach, and by the sequel she's left her career woman side behind. Lampshaded by Luis in ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'', who calls her first film bob haircut [[PowerHair "all business"]].

* ''Film/MissSloane'': The titular character is a cold, cutthroat, and highly competent lobbyist who is so ambitious that she willingly takes on lobbying against the notoriously difficult to counter American gun lobby just for the challenge. In the film we learn that she actively defied FamilyVersusCareer by deciding long ago that her [[MarriedToTheJob work is her passion]] and doesn't want anything to distract her from it.

* ''Series/{{Cheers}}'': Rebecca Howe is introduced as the highly competent and cold new owner of the eponymous bar after former owner Sam sells it at the end of the fourth season. Unlike Diane, Sam's SlapSlapKiss co-star who Rebecca was written to replace, Rebecca consistently rebuffs Sam's advances and keeps things strictly business. She's also extraordinarily ambitious, wanting to climb her way to the top of her company. However, we see that outside of the bar, Rebecca is a mess in a way that deconstructs a lot of the core elements of this trope: she naturally lusts after powerful men which leads her to pine over her much older superiors, she's decided to only date men who can help her career tossing "the self-made woman" ideal out the window, and she often devolves into hysterics when a wrench gets thrown into her plans. Much of this depiction is part of the series's larger critique in the later seasons of corporate culture as being soulless, unnecessarily cutthroat, and unfulfilling in the long-run.
* Deconstructed in ''Series/TheCryOfMann''. Courtney's an ambitious, intelligent, and hard-working woman who came up with the idea for the Battle Machines that not only changed the tide of the "warr", but also made [=MannCorp=] as rich and powerful as it is. However, despite this, she was constantly pushed aside and her husband Tank took the credit, leading her to grow bitter and resentful of him and his company, and spurring her on to start sabotaging the company as soon as Tank disappeared.

* ''Series/Dark2017'': Claudia Tiedemann was a [[AdorablyPrecociousChild bright kid]] and high achiever in school who grows up to be a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed version]] of this trope as an adult. She's appointed as the director of the Winden Power Plant in 1986, the first woman in that in the entire country, which more implies Claudia's ambition rather than making it a focal point of her narrative arc. This promotion doesn't improve her strained relationships with her father and daughter, which she struggles to navigate in part because of her [[NoSocialSkills lack of people skills]] that toe the line between awkward and outright IceQueen.

** Joan is a straight example. She is a bit neurotic and high strung, and her goal is to make partner at the law firm she works at, all the while trying to figure out how to connect with her bosses and overcome their sexist and periodically racist assumptions about her. A few episodes in the series include her and friend/work colleague William debating whether or not he should defend Joan against the sexism or if it's biased to assume he should intervene because he's the sole other black person in the office. He advises Joan to toughen up in order to get respect.
** Joan's oldest friend, Toni is a {{Foil}} for Joan. The most glamorous and superficial of the group, Toni is a successful real estate agent with billboards of her business all across town. However, she subverts the trope because unlike Joan, Toni would be more than happy being the trophy wife to an even more successful husband who takes care of her needs. This perspective often puts her at odds with Joan and resident GranolaGirl Lynn. [[spoiler:She ends up getting her wish, marrying a well-off dentist, [[WantingIsBetterThanHaving but her marriage proves to be far less than ideal]].]]
* ''Series/{{Insecure}}'': Molly is an impeccably well-dressed, career-driven attorney who struggles to get noticed at her law firm, not because she is a woman, but because (she believes) of systemic racism blinding her firm from seeing her worth. She also struggles in her dating life, partially because she applies the same clinical and critical approach she uses for work to her relationships. In later seasons however, she [[spoiler:leaves her firm to work at an all-black law firm where her efforts are more readily recognized. She also learns to be less critical in her relationships and begins to date /eventually marry her coworker Taurean, who approaches work and life in a way similar to Molly]].

* ''Series/MadMen'': This is Peggy's story arc on the show. She starts off as just a receptionist but dreams of more and the show follows her pursuit of becoming an advertising executive during the late 1950s and '60s. She frequently faces overt sexism from just about everyone she works with (including false accusations of her [[SleepingWithTheBoss sleeping with Don]] to get the job), which [[CharacterDevelopment morphs her]] into an IronLady of sorts by the series end, in contrast to her PluckyOfficeGirl role in the beginning. She also struggles in her personal life finding a balance between CareerVersusMan.

** Where Creator/CalistaFlockhart subverted the trope as Ally [=McBeal=], she plays it straight as Cat Grant. Cat runs Catco Worldwide Media in Season 1 and is a serious, whip smart DeadpanSnarker with very exacting standards, which her intern Kara struggles to meet. She also tends to ignore or demean her employees, except for those who have earned her respect. However, Kara looks up to her as a role model, and Cat encourages Kara to be more confident (in her way), unwittingly mentoring Supergirl in the process. She also justifies that she has had to be this way to make it in a male-dominated industry, referencing how she came up from the bottom under Perry White.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'': Helen Morgandorffer is the quintessential high powered career woman: she's an extroverted, independent, strong-willed, practically-minded and [[HelloAttorney attractive attorney]], typically shown in a [[LadyInAPowerSuit skirt suit]], rocking PowerHair. She's one of the few adults shown to be fairly competent, but is not the strongest presence in her daughters' lives due to her being a {{Workaholic}}, prioritizing [[FamilyVersusCareer work over family]] more often than not.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Parodied in "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS6E12LongJohnPeter Long John Peter]]" when Quagmire, Joe, and Cleveland are at the bar and the TV is playing a clip from a fictional show called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXM08-GyucQ ''Busy Business Lady Whose Life Is Missing Something But She Doesn't Realize It Because She's So Busy With Business'']]. In the clip, a LadyInAPowerSuit harriedly answers phones ringing off the hook, turning down meetings because [[{{Workaholic}} she has more meetings]] she has to get to. A male colleague enters the room and asks her out. When she tries to turn him down as [[ManVsCareer she's too busy]] he interrupts her saying, "Over the next 90 minutes, I'd like to show you all of your problems can be solved by my penis."

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Talespin}}'': Rebecca Cunningham sees herself as this. Unfortunately, what she considers to be hard-headed business plans are often closer to {{Zany Scheme}}s. She runs Higher for Hire well enough on a daily basis, having a much better grasp of finances, networking, and so on than Baloo ever did, but has convinced herself that this means she understands the practicalities of air-delivery better than she actually does. She sometimes prioritises work over her daughter Molly, but really tries not to.

** Shiv Roy is bitingly sarcastic, emotionally closed off, and just as ambitious as her siblings to become the successor of her father's media empire. Despite being arguably the most BookSmart of the Roy siblings though, it is clear that Logan refuses to truly consider her as a future successor because she is a woman, something that both Kendall and Roman throw in her face at different points in the series. She also has a strained relationship with her boyfriend (later HenpeckedHusband) Tom, with it being unclear how much she genuinely loves him vs knowingly settled for him. The only thing keeping her from being a fully straight example is that, unlike most examples of this trope, Shiv is [[DeconstructedTrope genuinely not the most competent businesswoman and has rather poor business sense]] due to a lack of experience and people skill. This makes her confidence and determination come off more as foolish arrogance and self-righteousness.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Parodied in "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS6E12LongJohnPeter Long John Peter]]" when Quagmire, Joe, and Cleveland are at the bar and the TV is playing a clip from a fictional show called ''Busy Business Lady Whose Life Is Missing Something But She Doesn't Realize It Because She's So Busy With Business''. In the clip, a LadyInAPowerSuit harriedly answers phones ringing off the hook, turning down meetings because [[{{Workaholic}} she has more meetings]] she has to get to. A male colleague enters the room and asks her out. When she tries to turn him down as [[ManVsCareer she's too busy]] he interrupts her saying, "Over the next 90 minutes, I'd like to show you all of your problems can be solved by my penis." You can watch the clip [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXM08-GyucQ here]].

* ''Anime/AllPurposeCulturalCatGirlNukuNuku'': Akiko Natsume is the head of a powerful corporation. She is also estranged from her husband and her son. In one episode, she invites them, and Nuku Nuku, to her mansion to try and patch things up.

* ''Series/MadMen'':
** This is Peggy's story arc on the show. She starts off as just a receptionist but dreams of more and the show follows her pursuit of becoming an advertising executive during the late 1950s and '60s. She frequently faces overt sexism from just about everyone she works with (including false accusations of her [[SleepingWithTheBoss sleeping with Don]] to get the job), which [[CharacterDevelopment morphs her]] into an IronLady of sorts by the series end, in contrast to her PluckyOfficeGirl role in the beginning. She also struggles in her personal life finding a balance between CareerVersusMan.
** Joan is a subtle yet prominent example. While she is much more traditionally feminine than most examples (being very conventionally attractive and dressed to emphasize that, focused on finding a man to marry and have children with, etc.), she is from the beginning a peerlessly firm boss when introduced as head of the secretarial pool in Season 1 (1960). By the time she becomes the office manager and a partner in Season 5 (1965-66), she is confident in her authority over the agency's workflow and in her commitment to her career. By Season 7 (1969-70) she is regularly making highly active use of her partnership stake to protect and advance her interests, and by the end of the series, she is a millionaire and set up for a long and successful career in business.

** * Joan is a subtle yet prominent example. While she is much more traditionally feminine than most examples (being very conventionally attractive and dressed to emphasize that, focused on finding a man to marry and have children with, etc.), she is from the beginning a peerlessly firm boss when introduced as head of the secretarial pool in Season 1 (1960). By the time she becomes the office manager and a partner in Season 5 (1965-66), she is confident in her authority over the agency's workflow and in her commitment to her career. By Season 7 (1969-70) she is regularly making highly active use of her partnership stake to protect and advance her interests, and by the end of the series, she is a millionaire and set up for a long and successful career in business.