The perfectionism that the superwoman strives for is in all areas of her life. Unfortunately this drive in itself for woman is almost always leading to a dead-end, only exacerbating the potential feelings of inadequacy for women regardless of whether or not she is a mother and wife or not.
Women often become stuck in their career roles despite their capabilities and potential as men continue to climb the ranks of success within companies and corporations. The number of women CEOs and top executive positions of Fortune 500 and 1000 is below 3.6 percent.
In addition to this, women are also less likely to be placed in managerial positions when compared to men and are continuing to be paid less, despite the fact that women are accounting for a higher percentage of degree holders on a continuum.
Dour and Theran (2011) refer to this occurrence as maladaptive perfectionism, and it is considered to be a risk factor for issues related to poor body image and eating disordered behaviors.
As the superwoman strives for perfection in all areas of her life, she not only wants to be the perfect wife, mother and employee; wanting to be attractive is also an important characteristic. As mentioned previously these roles are naturally conflicting; meaning that failure to achieve perfection is often likely to occur, thus affecting the superwoman in a negative manner.
The superwoman ideal includes the desire to be physically attractive and maintaining a thin physique, leading to the overall perception of one that is independent, successful and beautiful.
Hamacheck (1978) describes different levels of perfectionism on a continuum with normal perfectionists being able to reevaluate themselves when necessary, leading to less detrimental affects on the individual. He proceeds to describe neurotic perfectionism in which the individual is not able to accept failure and is driven more by this factor as opposed to the actual desire to achieve.
Superwomen display this neurotic perfectionism in their drive to have it all. Unfortunately as the superwoman adheres to a persona that is seen is smart, autonomous, nurturing and attractive, she is also putting herself at risk for various factors that can be both psychological and physiological. A prevalent link between perfectionism and adherence to the superwoman schema is the increased likely hood of poor body image and eating disordered behavior.
The superwoman ideal includes the desire to be physically attractive and maintaining a thin physique, leading to the overall perception of one that is independent, successful and beautiful.
Hamacheck (1978) describes different levels of perfectionism on a continuum with normal perfectionists being able to re- evaluate themselves when necessary, leading to less detrimental affects on the individual. He proceeds to describe neurotic perfectionism in which the individual is not able to accept failure and is driven more by this factor as opposed to the actual desire to achieve.
