“Greenwashing” has become a major obstacle to the green transformation and sustainable development of enterprises. Based on social role theory, this paper examines listed heavy-polluting enterprises on the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets from 2012—2022, investigating whether the ESG responsibility tendency of female executives leads to “greenwashing” or “green development” practices in the development of enterprises. The article finds that female executives can significantly inhibit corporate “greenwashing” behavior, the strength of power positively regulates the relationship between female executives and corporate “greenwashing”, and the greater the power of female executives, the more significant their inhibitory effect on corporate “greenwashing”; The effect of executive gender on corporate “greenwashing” is also influenced by the intensity of environmental regulations in the region where the enterprise is located, and the weaker the environmental regulations, the more significant the inhibitory effect of female executives on corporate “greenwashing”; In regions with a high degree of industrial green transformation and gender equality, the impact of female executives on corporate “greenwashing” is more obvious; The reduction of corporate “greenwashing” by female executives also has the economic benefit of easing corporate financing constraints and improving the quality of internal control in enterprises. The above conclusions expand the research perspective on corporate “greenwashing” from the perspective of gender differences in executives, and provide decisionmaking references for enterprises to realize green development.