May 14, 2026
From Marilyn Monroe singing "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" to the ditzy shopaholic archetypes that dominated many '90s and early-2000s films, women in pop culture have long been portrayed as consumers of wealth rather than builders of it.
But Anne Hathaway says that trope may finally be due for a rewrite.
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Speaking with Martha Debayle — founder of Media Marketing Knowledge Group — ahead of the The Devil Wears Prada 2 premiere, Hathaway and co-star Meryl Streep reflected on the importance of financial independence.
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"It's not cute to be financially illiterate," Hathaway said (1).
The promise they made to themselves
For Streep, the idea of financial independence traces back to a childhood memory she still carries with her decades later. She recalled standing at the top of a staircase overhearing her parents arguing about money and the cost of buying her school uniform. Her father, she remembered, told her mother she was spending too much. At that moment, something clicked.
"I will never ever ever have to ask somebody to buy my children's clothes or anything," Streep said (1). "I just wanted that independence."
The memory lingered not because of the uniform itself, but because of what the argument represented — the vulnerability that can come with depending on someone else financially. Hathaway described arriving at a similar conclusion early in life. Financial literacy, she suggests, is ultimately a "choice."
"I also did make a decision when I was a little girl that I would never rely on anybody to pay a bill for me," Hathaway explains. "And I have lived by that code."
Their reflections arrive at a moment when women's relationship with money is shifting in ways that go far beyond pop culture narratives. Research from McKinsey & Company found the share of U.S. women under 50 who said they felt financially confident rose from 48% in 2018 to 61% in 2023 (2).
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The power shift already underway
Part of what made Miranda Priestly, Streep's character in The Devil Wears Prada, such a defining figure of the early 2000s was the way her ambition was portrayed. She was powerful and deeply respected, but also emotionally distant, intimidating and, at times, isolated by her success.
But both Streep and Hathaway suggest that their understanding of power has shifted over time, away from external validation and toward something more personal.
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"For me though, I've always defined power in terms of freedom," Hathaway said.
That idea carries particular weight given how recently many women gained full financial autonomy in the United States. It wasn't until 1974 that American women could legally apply for credit cards in their own name without requiring a husband or male co-signer (3). And while the gender pay gap has narrowed in recent decades, women still earned an average of 85% of what men earned in 2024, according to Pew Research Center (4).
Now, the balance of financial power is beginning to shift in measurable ways. Nearly 70% of women say they are their household's primary decision-maker when it comes to investments, according to a 2025 report from the CFP Board (5). At the same time, about 53% of women consider themselves the "chief financial officer" of their household (6).
Nearly two decades after The Devil Wears Prada turned female ambition into a parade of cerulean sweaters, impossible standards and corner offices, the conversation around power appears to be getting an overdue rewrite. As more women take on larger roles in managing investments, household finances and long-term financial planning, financial literacy is being reframed as a form of freedom.
Today, the ultimate status symbol may not be a Runway wardrobe or a seat at Miranda Priestly's table but the ability to pay your own bills, build your own wealth and walk away on your own terms.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
YouTube (1); McKinsey & Company (2); Forbes (3); Pew Research Center (4); CFP Board (5); Yahoo Finance (6)
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Victoria Vesovski is a Toronto-based staff reporter at Moneywise covering personal finance, lifestyle and trending news. She holds degrees from the University of Toronto and New York University, and her work has appeared on platforms including Yahoo Finance, MSN Money and Apple News.
