Miranda Priestly: The take-no-prisoners editor-in-chief of Runway magazine in "The Devil Wears Prada." Nicknamed Snow Queen, Dragon Lady, Career-Obsessed, Miranda is the type of boss none of us think we want to have. But I can't help but find her my favorite character in the whole story.
Listen, Miranda Priestly doesn't mess around and I respect that. I respect any woman that obliterates the barriers that are in her way to get what she wants. And on top of that, her sass is always on point.
But Miranda is more than just a ruthless HBIC. Yes, she appears cold and cruel in a good portion of the film, but if you look closely, she's so much more than that. Miranda Priestly defies the expectations of women by not giving up advancements in her career to stay at home and take care of children or to be a doting wife. No, instead she works and works to get where she is, never giving up her career goals. I love that about her because when women are expected to give up their personal desires to adhere to societal norms, Miranda says "Nope, not happening."
Deep down, Miranda is human just like the rest of us and she's not immune to emotion. I think that Miranda knows the borderline psychotic manner in which she behaves and is well aware of how it's perceived by others, but none of that matters to her so long as Runway remains the best of the best. Yes, she knows what people say about her and she's not unaffected by her marriage troubles, but I commend her for constantly putting on a brave face and getting stuff done. She puts all of her troubles aside to ensure the success of her magazine and has no shame in putting people in their place while she does it.
Perhaps people might be a little put off when I say that I want to be Miranda Priestly, but what I mean when I say that is not that I want to be terribly abrasive and cut-throat, rather that I want to be strong and successful as a woman in the working world.
It's no secret that there's still some prejudice against women in the workplace and I think I speak not only for myself, but many other women, when I say that I don't want to have to let myself be walked all over just to get somewhere in my career. No, I want to be respected just as much as any other person in their field and it's somewhat frustrating that in situations like Miranda's, apparently you can't always plays Mrs. Nice in the job market if you want to move up the ladder as a female professional. Sometimes you have to steel yourself and stand firm, regardless of if it makes you look like anything other than the chaste, silent, and obedient woman society still thinks you should be.
So, not just a Dragon Lady, but a successful woman with a notable career who made sacrifices to achieve her goals, refusing to give up what she wanted for gendered workplace norms. Miranda, I commend you for putting your dreams first and fighting for them, for not giving them up in the face of a culture that still sort of thinks you should give it all up in order to put wifely duties and biological capacities (read: that all women should have children simply for the fact that we have the ability to, regardless of our thoughts on the matter) first.
